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No 20 November 1984

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“THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES, game elements and character names and likenesses are trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. used under authorization. c 1984 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. c 1984 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Editorial

Module designers don’t always get the
credit they deserve. Sometimes letters
arrive here at TSR, addressed to no-one in
particular, saying that ‘I like your new
module Z11 ’, or I think F19 is brilliant ,
but it’s rare for the writer to be singled out
for individual praise — with the possible
exception of Gary Gygax, of course!

For those of you who haven’t seen one yet,
TSR UK are responsible for a series of
AD8cD game modules — carrying the UK
number. These are put together by the lads
of our Product Development department,
who occupy the top floor of our prestige
offices in Cambridge. Many of you will
have played the two-part series UK2 8c
UK3, written by Graeme Morris (illus¬
trated above), but for those that haven’t,
the module in the centre of this magazine
will serve as an introduction to the
combined talents of GM, Phil Gallagher
and Jim Bambra. We’re not saying British
is best, but....

Jfc Paul Cockburn

Clerics are People Too, by Paul Vernon

Some thoughts on playing this difficult character class. 2

Alignment, Personality & Philosophy-Religion

Encouraging alignment role-playing, by Lew Pulsipher .6

As God is My Witness, by Graeme Davis

The Judicium Dei in Medieval Europe.10

PELINORE — the IMAGINE™ magazine Campaign World
THIS MONTH: A Travelling Circus hits the City League .,12

Prince of Thieves, by Richard W Lee

Compelling fiction from the underworld.18

Nearer, my God..., by Chris Felton
Clerical specialisation in the AD&D® game .22

The Necklace of Lilith, by Phil Gallagher

A special clerics module designed to introduce new spells.25

New Clerical Spells, by Gary Gygax and Len Lakofka

Official additions to the clerical manifesto .32

New Flail Types, by Graeme Davis

New weapons with multi-system stats.35

Looking for an Edge, by Carl Sargent

Examining the clerics and edged weapons controversy.36

Notices — recent game releases examined by independent reviewers.38

Illuminations, news from the world of gaming.43

Dispel Confusion, RPG rules questions answered .39

Chain Mail, by Brian Creese

By popular request, a further elaboration of the En Garde! game .45

Game Company, Clubs & Events 46

Rubic of Moggedon 46

Fantasy Media, by Colin Greenland

The latest on books, films and videos.47

Letters.48

VOP, by Ian Gibbs.49

Dialog, by Lew Pulsipher.50

Stirge Corner, by Roger Musson .51

Soapbox — The hobby forum;

this month's contributor Graham Staplehurst.52

Press Clippings — full fanzine review coverage.52

Turnbull Talking.54

Phalanx, by Robin Grenville-Evans.55

.IMAGINE magazine. No 20, November 1984.

.Published by TSR UK Ltd. Publisher Don Turnbull.

.Editor Keith Thomson. Assistant Editor Paul Cockburn.

Editorial Assistant Kim Daniel. Features Assistant Mike Brunton ...

.Art Phil Kaye. Advertising Lesley Hudson-Jessop

.News Doug Cowie.

.. This month's contributing artists: Robin Grenville Evans, Paul Ruiz,
Brian Williams, Ian Gibbs, Pete Young, Marcus Boas
.Cover AC Spec 2 by Alan Craddock.

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IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

by Paul Vernon

Of all the AD&D character classes the cleric is
generally the one least utilised and most badly
played. The main reason for this is that clerics d
not fit particularly comfortably into the medieval/
fantasy background of most AD&D campaigns.

Whereas fighters can model themselveson Conan or Fafhrd,
magic userson Gandalf or Merlin, and thieveson Grey Mouser
or Bilbo, there are no great characters of letjend or fantasy
literature to whom the players of clerics can look for
inspiration, which makes the class particularly difficult to play.

In many games, a cleric is taken along as a sort of walking
medical kit and detection device, for it is widely recognised that
in this role clerics add considerably to a party's chances
survival. Clerical benefits are often bestowed on party
members indiscriminately, with no thought to differences in
alignment or outlook, which can iead to clerics actively aiding
causes to which they are supposed to be strongly opposed! If
merely being in the same party is enough to guarantee a
cleric's aid, the cleric tends to become a rather colourless party
appendage instead of a character in his or her own right. To
prevent this, a cleric's outlook, motives and goals must be
firmly outlined, preferably before any adventuring begins.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

An individual clerical character's moti¬
vation will differ greatly from that of any
other character class, and indeed from
most other clerics. Whereas a fighter may
be preparing for the establishment of his
own freehold, and a thief may be looking
forward to the day when the local
guildmaster can be ousted, a cleric's one
overriding concern will be service to the
deity worshipped and furtherance of the
OneTrue Faith, ^//actions will be viewed
from this standpoint and all decisions
weighed in the balance. The cleric's
personal needs and aspirations, and
those of other party members, will always
be of secondary importance. Even the
cleric's life is of no value if sacrificing it
would further the deity's aims more than
if the cleric merely continued to survive.

The gods are so powerful that any
direct confrontation between them would
result in universal destruction. To prevent
this occurring, the gods' battles are
fought on the Prime Material Plane by
their servants, and clerics are their
deities' standard bearers in the fray. The
power of the gods is proportional to the
number of worshippers they enjoy, so the
cleric's most important tasks will be
defending and nurturing the Faithful in
areas where the deity is worshipped and
increasing the number of worshippers
whenever and wherever possible.

Secondly, clerics will endeavour to
encourage and foster those values and
aspects of the world the deity finds most
pleasing, resist and crush those found
most distasteful; foiling the endeavours
of those working in the cause of deities
opposed to their own at every opportunity.
It can be assumed that clerics with
temples and congregations in their charge
will be most concerned with thefirsttask,
whilst the opposition to unfavourable
deities will fall mainly to the wandering
clerical adventurers usually found as
player characters.

Like most other things, crusading zeal
begins at home, and fellow party mem¬
bers will be prime targets for it. From the
first it will be made clear that under no
circumstances will clerics be party to
actions which go against the interests or
teachings of their deity, nor will they
stand idly by while others perform them.
Those wishing aid must first prove them¬
selves worthy of it, and naturally true
believers will be given preference over
infidels. Clerics may attempt to convert
other party members to the One True
Faith at any opportunity, and gladly
expound on the tenets of this belief to all
who seek enlightenment (as well as those
who don't). Unbelievers who seek aid will
be especially prone to this, and payment
or some service in the deity's interest will
be demanded in return. Those whom the
cleric considers to be totally beyond
redemption will never be aided, unless
the cause of the deity would be furthered
greatly by doing so.

Clerics will be much less tolerant of
those whose alignments differ from their
own than will other characters, for
obvious reasons, andthiswill be especial¬
ly apparent where clerics of other deities
are concerned. There will be considerable

distrust even between clerics whose
deities are fairly well disposed towards
one another and it would be very rare
indeed for a cleric to join a party contain¬
ing the worshipper of a god at enmity with
his own.

As the emissary on earth of a deity, the
cleric's behaviour should always be ex¬
emplary and 'correct' according to the
religion's rules, even when not adventur¬
ing. Unlike other adventurers, clerics
should not be found immersing them¬
selves in the delights of the bordello or
ale-house between expeditions (unless
religious observance demands it). Instead
we should find them preaching to the
populace, administering to the faithful,
and attempting to bring the area as a
whole more into line with their ideals;
being a cleric is a full-time occupation!
The above activities are more than likely
to bring the cleric into conflict with the
local priesthood, which can spice things
up for the other characters too. Having a
well-played cleric in the party can often
be a mixed blessing!

From the above it becomes obvious that
a cleric's behaviour and the manner in
which the character is played will depend
to a great extent on the deity worshipped.
By no means should all clerics tend
towards the same basic mould, as often
seems to occur. It follows that a set of
beliefs and codes of behaviour must be
established for each religion in a cam¬

paign, together with some outline as to
howthe variousgods relate toeach other.

It was hoped that the DEITIES &
DEMIGODS™ Cyclopaedia would fulful
this role, but unfortunately in this respect
the book is sadly lacking. Although gods
from 14 different pantheons are outlined
in fair detail, together with spheres of
control, holy symbols, appropriate sacri¬
fices and so on — far more gods than any
DM will ever need — the ultimate aims of
the gods themselves, and the conduct
and standards of behaviour expected by
their worshippers and clerics are still left
to the individual DM or players. This is
one area where the AD&D game loses
out to other fantasy games; RuneQuest,
for example, has a fully outlined set of
cults which make it far easier to role-play
religious characters.

In order for clerics to have any purpose
in life at all, they must worship a deity
whose aims and aspirations are known

and whose standards can be upheld, and
it is up to the DM to provide a selection of
these from which their players can
choose the one most suited to the
character in hand. The DDG is an excel¬
lent source of these, though by no means
exhaustive, and inventive DMs finding
nothing to fill a desired niche can design
their own godsfrom scratch. A fair cross-
section, covering most spheres of influ¬
ence, character types and alignment
variations can be achieved by using 20-
30 different gods. Extra deities beyond
this are largely redundant, though DMs
may wish to include racial gods, such as
the ore deity Gruumsh, especially for
monster races.

Once the cast of gods has been chosen,
and their alignments, spheres of control
and alignment/types of worshippers
have been decided, it is fairly easy to
provide them with motives, ambitions
and inter-relationships. If we take as an
example Kos, the god of doom from the
Nehwon mythos, we see that he is
neutral in alignment, worshipped by
fighters, delights in battle, but has a
highly developed sense of personal hon¬
our. From this it looks as though he tends
far more towards chaos than to law,
wishes to see as many battles as he can,
prizes individual prowess and bravery
rather than tactical excellence, and des¬
pises cowards intensely. Cowards will
form a very large group in his eyes,

embracing all those who try to weight
odds in their favour rather than fight man
to man (magic users, back-stabbing
thieves, etc), those too cowardly to fight
for themselves (such as peasants depen¬
dent on their lords to protect them or rich
individuals hiring others to do their
fighting for them) in addition to fighters
who run away from anything less than
insurmountable odds.

This outlook will obviously bring him
into conflict with many other gods —
those advocating peaceful co-existence,
gods of thieves and magic, gods of
healing, etc — whose clerics will be
opposed to his own. On the other hand,
gods of music and poetry, whose practi¬
tioners praise the deeds of heroes, and
those of metal working who oversee the
making of the implements of battle, will
find him well disposed towards them,
while gods of natural phenomena would
be mutually indifferent to him.

themselves in the delights of the bordello or
ale-house — unless religious observance
demands it

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

Kos would make an ideal god for a
barbarian hero. His followers would not
allow themselves to show fear at any
time, and would spend much time in
improving their battle skills so as to
please Kos with their prowess when in
combat. Their highly developed sense of
honour would not allow them to take part
in unequal combat against a weaker
enemy, and they would despise those
who did, especially those who slew foes
in their sleep rather than give them the
chance to die nobly in combat. Bravery
and fighting skills would be highly prized
by them, even in enemies, and foes who
had fought bravely in battle but not died
would be safe from having their throats
cut afterwards so long as the followers of
Kos were around.

The clerics of Kos would naturally be
most meticulous in following the above
code, but would have many obligations in
addition. Their first task would be actively
to encourage wars and combat wherever
possible, for not only does Kos delight in
this, but the more wars there are, the
more warriors there will be, and thus the
more potential worshippers. They will not
hesitate to defend the honour of Kos with
their blood, being even more eager to
punish insults to him than will be the
clerics of other deities.

When trying to gain converts from a
party they were travelling with, they
would naturally concentrate on the fight¬
ers present, and perhaps the thieves (who
could be honourable warriors if they'd
only give up this cowardly backstabbing
and sneaking about). Magic users would
generally be considered beyond the pale,
unless they used their magic in combat
only to equal the odds in what would
otherwise be an unequal engagement.
Similarly, only fighters would be reason¬
ably sure of receiving any aid from them,
and even then only if they had adhered
fairly well to the above code of behaviour.

This would entail fighting opponents
alone, rather than ganging up on them,
and a cleric of Kos would take a very dim
view of anyone coming to his aid while he
was engaged in single combat.

The code they follow would have a
great effect upon the spells clerics of Kos
would use, as well as determining the
circumstances in which they would be
cast. As servants of a god delighting in
battle a very good case could be made for
allowing them to use edged weapons,
especially as Kos' holy symbol is a
crossed sword and axe. Whether this is
allowed or not, they would be more eager
than most clerics to come to grips with
enemies so as to demonstrate their
martial prowess and bravery, to prove
themselves worthy in their task of spread¬
ing Kos' teachings. As a result, they
would be unlikely to cast spells in battle
except to even up the odds against them.

Taking a look through the first level
clerical spells it immediately becomes
obvious that some spells would be totally
unsuitable for the followers of Kos.
Sanctuary would be out of the question,
as it prevents the very thing which they
af& trying to promote. A special form of
this spell might be available, allowing
only one creature through at a time so
that the rules of honour are maintained,
but which cleric would be cowardly
enough to use it? Protection from evil (in
effect, from enchanted creatures) would
be acceptable, as this would only be used
against cowardly creatures using en¬
chantments anyway. Similarly, detect
evil would be seen as irrelevant, while
detect magic could warn of dishonour¬
able methods of combat. Remove fear
would be a common spell, but cause fear
would never be used, for what could be
more heinous than to rob a warrior of his
courage magically? Bless would be
another common spell, especially if the
cleric's party were outnumbered, while
command would be used but rarely (and
the commonest form of this would be
'fight'!).

The cleric of Kos could find himself in a
very interesting position as regards dis¬
pensing curses. Curing 'cowards' would
naturally be out of the question, but
wounds received while engaged in single
combat would be seen as honourable
ones, even as gifts from Kos himself, and
as such their recipient might be expected
to wear them with pride. A wounded
warrior about to go into combat, however,
whose wounds put him at a disadvantage
against an uninjured opponent, might be
considered a special case. Wounds
caused by magic, traps, or some other
dishonourable means would be cured
without question, as long asthe recipient
was worthy of course.

The same situation could arise at
higher levels where raising the dead was
concerned. A warrior who had died
honourably in single combat might be
seen as having died the finest death
possible, and thus be refused resurrect¬
ion. One who had died by sorcery, or had
been killed while fighting a number of
opponents, would naturally stand a much
better chance.

Service to Kos would also dictate the
kinds of adventures his clerics might find
themselves joining. They would be un¬
likely to join an expedition to dispose of an
evil magnate whose armies were ram¬
paging in the area, for example, unless
the resulting war of succession would be
more extensive than the existing conflict.
They would join expeditions in relatively
peaceful areas, but would probably be
more interested in provoking monsters to
attack the nearby villages than anything
else. The worship of Kos would be
popular in the more barbaric areas and
among barbarian mercenaries. The rulers
of more civilised lands would tend to
desire the furtherance of their own ends
without damaging their incomes, how¬
ever, and Kosites would only be welcome
at the courts of monarchs with ex¬
pansionist aims. Even here their interests
— prolonged combat — would conflict
with those of the government (quick,
decisive victory). Many fighters would be
worshippers, however, and the temples
of Kos might even offer cheap (or even
free!) weapons training to encourage
converts among those not having martial
backgrounds.

Obviously, clerics of Kos would fit in
very well with a party of hack-and-
slayers, though they would probably be a
pain in the rear for a group of more subtle
adventurers. Whatever their circumstan¬
ces, they make much more interesting
characters than clerics normally do, and
are much more fun to play.

The same process can be used to bring
the other religions in a campaign to life.
Determine the aims of each god, how
these are to be fufilled, and what relation¬
ships with other gods will lead to. Decide
how this will affect the behaviour of their
worshippers and clerics. What spells
would be acceptable to them (a canon in
the service of Lu Yueh, god of epidemics,
would be unlikely to a I low the use of cure
disease, for example) and in what situ¬
ations would they be used? How are they
expected to futher the aims of their god,
and what kind of adventures would they
be found joining? If your DM hasn't done
all this, work out a religion for your
clerical character yourself, and see if he
or she agrees to it.

Having a detailed religious background
adds enormously to the flavour of any
campaign. Not only do clerics become
more interesting and fun to play as
characters, encounters with NPC clerics
become more enjoyable and easierforthe
DM to handle. One advantage of not
having detailed religions in modules is
that they can easily be brought into line
with those of individual campaigns, and
conflicts between the various religions
can themselves be a rich source of
individual adventures.

So, if you find your clerics becoming
colourless, or other characters are taking
them for granted, give them a god to
worship and a code to follow, and send
them out to spread the true faith! If they
are true to their ideals, even if they don't
survive they will be assured a place at
their deity's side!

J& Paul Vernon

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

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Alignment,
Personality &

t',j!/ Philosophy-Religion

' /

P ' Lew Pulsipher discusses positive and negative

: • j jl.. reinforcement for alignment role-playing

Every fantasy role-playing game design¬
er faces a serious problem with respect to
player-character personality. In real life,
every person has their own philosophy-
religion, a set of guidelines or rules by
which they organise their lives and make
decisions, whether or not they are con¬
sciously aware of having adopted these
guidelines. Even the person who feels
that nothing matters, who doesn't give a
damn about anything, has a philosophy
no matter how nihilistic. How can the
designer (or, on a more immediate level,
the referee) introduce philosophy-religion
into a game?

While philosophy-religion should be
the most important aspect of a character's
life, players have no reason to transfer
this aspect to the game. Instead, the
majority of players, even those who are of
fundamentalist religions, let loose from
their personal philosophy. Typically, their
characters become the equivalent of
thugs or gangsters, people who like to act
tough, who are willing to take what they
want by force if necessary, who are
entirely devoted to increasing their
wealth and prestige without regardtothe
rights or welfare of others (except, per¬
haps, reserving loyalty to other members
of the gang). The characters are not out-
and-out evil, though they commit acts
which some would call evil if they
occurred in the real world. They are

certainly not good, though
some of their actions bring
good to others. The players,
having left their own philosophy-
religion behind them when they
entered the game, run their characters
without restraints on their actions
except insofar as they don't want to
arouse the ire of those powerful enough
to ha?m them.

Granted, there are players who come to
role-playing with an ideal they would like
to emulate through the medium of the
game — most often the chivalrous knight,
but sometimes the low-down evil magic¬
ian or something else. And others are
willing to create detailed, complex per¬
sonalities, different from their own, for
each character. Though a tiny minority,
these players are a blessing to their
referees. Unfortunately, few players are
self-restrained in this or other ways, so
the game designer and referee must still
cope with the 'thug syndrome'.

One can, of course, simply allow the
player-characters to act like thugs. Un¬
fortunately, this can be pretty dull, for if
some player-characters act this way
either the rest are forced to go along, or
they must quit the campaign to play with
another referee. Moreover, religion be¬
comes a nullity in such games; in many
places you can find player-characters
who care nothing for religion except

everyone can cope with, not the method
that works best in ideal conditions.
Generally the 'better ways' amount to an
individual personality profile for each
character or specific guidelines for each
religious cult. If the referee must record
these profiles and ensure that characters
act according to their avowed personal¬
ities he is in for a great deal of work.
Moreover, if the players do not completely
respect their referee — unfortunately the
rule rather than the exception — the ref
can encounter serious difficulties and
personality conflicts with players in the
course of attempting to enforce character
personality. At one extreme, the referee
begins to play the characters, and the
players lose all autonomy. At the other
extreme, the referee does nothing and
players often lapse into gangsterism. It is
all too subjective.

Moreover, these methods are simply
too much for less mature players and
referees to cope with. The method of
introducing philosophy-religion into the
game must be somethingthat an average
referee can enforce despite the immatur¬
ity of players or their inclination to find
loopholes in the rules.

From a designer's or referee's point of
view, alignment is the solution, and
consequently is more significant and
valuable as a means of encouraging and
guiding role-playing than as a simulation

The method of introducing philosophy-religion must be
something that an average referee can enforce despite the
players’ inclination to find loopholes in the rules.

when they want a god to bail them out of
trouble. The upshot is that much of the
variety of the real world, and of the ideal
form of fantasy world, is missing from
such campaigns.

Alignment is a common way for a
designer to combat the thug syndrome, to
encourage a variety of behaviour reflect¬
ing different religions and philosophies.
Some critics object that there are better
ways than alignment to reflect philo¬
sophy-religion. This may be true, but a
designer must choose a method that

of religion. The penalties incurred when a
character defies alignment are not meant
to simulate anything that would 'really'
happen. Rather, they are negative rein¬
forcement, encouraging role-playing by
penalising those who don't. Unfortun¬
ately, in the most popular fantasy role-
playing games these penalties are applied
only after a player so grossly defies the
alignment strictures that the character's
alignment changes (see p25, AD&D
Players Handbook). In the AD&B game,
theoretically, failure to act in accordance

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

with alignment should increase the train¬
ing costs of rising a level (see p86,
Dungeon Masters Guide), but other
defects in this rule cause it to be only
rarely used. And in other games using
alignment, there is little or no incentive to
act in accordance with declared align¬
ment.

Consequently, alignment in AD&D and
other games doesn't sufficiently influ¬
ence role-playing because it's an all-or-
nothing proposition. To improve the effect
of alignment we need smaller penalties
for smaller infractions, and even more we
need rewards — positive reinforcement
— for actions which are especially ap¬
propriate for a character's alignment.
This should lead to a better standard of
role-playing in the campaign by forcing
the worst role-players to improve. A
player will be forced to adopt some
philosophy-religion for each character, or
play at a distinct disadvantage. Here are
some suggestions to that end.

Encouraging Good or Evil

In many games the principle has been
established, if not stated outright, that
experience points or increases in skill
should come, directly or indirectly, only
from adventures, not from training or
other peaceful pursuits. Even if you
adhere to this limiting principle, you can
award experience points for certain deeds
that lean strongly to one alignment. For
example, under standard AD&D rules an
Evil character gains nothing from burning
down a village and enslaving its people
(some referees might give a few points
per villager killed, but this is contrary to
the principle that a 'monster' must repre¬
sent a threatto an adventurer in order for
him to earn experience for killing it).
Similarly, a Good character gains nothing
(but satisfaction) from saving a village
from bandits, mysterious monsters, what¬
ever. Why not give experience points for
these deeds to encourage this kind of
action from Evil or Good characters?
Perhaps one point per villager per exper¬
ience level of the adventurer would be
sufficient incentive. Then even if players
have no personal interest in burning or
saving a village, they'll cause their char¬
acters to act in this manner in order to
earn experience points. Thus role-playing
is encouraged, though players always
have the option to ignore the encourage¬
ment. Similar rewards can be given for
other especially Good or Evil deeds.

If you don't adhere to the principle
mentioned above, you can establish a
weekly reward/penalty of experience
points for acting in accordance with
alignment. Characters who are true to
their alignment will receive a positive
number of points, while those who have
ignored alignment will lose experience
points. But this method involves a sub¬
jective evaluation by the referee, who
may not be able to point to specific events
(such as razing a village) to support the
evaluation. To be safe, the referee should
keep the value at zero except in obvious
cases.

An alternative to this weekly potential
reward is an 'alignment modifier' to be
applied to experience points gained from
adventures. For example, characters who
flirt with the wrong alignments will find
their experience point award for the
adventure multiplied by some number
less than one. Characters who are para¬
gons of alignment might have their award
multiplied by more than one. This is still
subjective, and ordinarily the multiplier
should be 1 or very near it, but it may be
easier to handle than the weekly
reward/penalty.

In general, it is harder to play a Good
character than an Evil one simply because
there are so many restraints on a Good
character and few on the actions of an
Evil character. 'Harder' not only means
that being Good requires more attention
and effort, it means being Good is in¬
herently less safe. Moreover, Good char¬
acters must not only avoid some cate¬
gories of action, the truly Good ones will
be good actively rather than passively,
through good works rather than mere
avoidance of evil deeds. The Evil char¬
acter, on the other hand, can do anything
he wants. If he occasionally commits a
good deed, he can easily make up for it
with heinous crimes of torture, pervers¬
ion, and so on. True, if he fails to act evilly
he may find he's become Neutral on the
Good-Evil axis, but this is rarely a danger
to any Evil character I've known...

Given that it is harder to be Good, there
must be some mechanism, in game
terms, to compensate the Good character
for the limitations of his alignment.
Otherwise, most characters are going to
lean toward Evil. What are some possible
compensations?

First, Good clerics should be ableto use
spells unavailable to Evil clerics. The
original D&D rules implied that Evil
clerics were unable to heal wounds or
raise the dead because these were good
acts. More recently, players and referees
have argued that Evil gods should be just
as powerful as Good gods, hence just as
capable of helping their devotees through
healing and resurrection. Whether that
ought to be true or not is a moot point, but
for the purpose of encouraging role-
playing, I believe that good characters
must have some kind of advantage in
respect to clerical spells (besides, Evil
characters already have advantages in
clerical spell use, insofar as they can use
spells as slay living and animate dead
without concern, while Good characters
can use them only in dire straits and
consequently won't memorise them).

In my campaign, this compensation is
reflected in raising the dead. This is a
combination of two circumstances: Evil
clerics rarely use the raise dead spell,
either because they cannot or because
they strongly dislike to use it; and it is

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

easier to find a cleric willing and able to
raise a dead character of Good alignment
than it is to find a cleric to raise an Evil
character. Neutrals fall somewhere be¬
tween the two extremes. Neutrals are *ar
more likely to raise Good characters than
Evil ones, not because they're pro-Good
but because it's a better business pro¬
position. In summary, if you're Good, and
dead, you have a decent chance to live
again; if you're Neutral, good luck (and
kiss your fortune goodbye); if you're Evil,
forget it.

At one time I didn't allow Evil clerics to
cure wounds, but my feeling for ...
realism? ... overcame my desire to en¬
courage Good characters. The low-level
spells don't come from any god or his
minions, anyway. However, higher cures,
especially those which come directly
from a deity, are rarely usable by Evil
characters.

There are other ways to reward Good
characters. Evil creatures, even Lawful
Evil, always watch their backs, fear those
who are more powerful because they may
enslave, and fear those who are weaker
because they may collectively pull the
stronger down out of jealousy or ambit¬
ion. They miss out on one of the best
defense mechanisms available to any
animal, the ability to trust other Good
characters including those they don't
even know personally. Because of this
difference, it should be relatively easy for
Good characters to find and hire non¬
player character aid, and much harder for
Evil characters in similar situations. After
all, ask yourself this: if you were Neutral,
would you rather deal with someone you
know is Good, or someone who might be
Evil? You'd take advantage of the Good
character and avoid the dangers of the
Evil one, I should think. Yet unless the
referee runs non-player characters to
reflect these attitudes, the attractions of
being Evilly inclined will outweigh the
advantages of Good-ness.

While compensating Good characters
for their limited freedom of action, one
must also be sure that Evil characters
have greater freedom of action than
Neutrals on the Good-Evil axis. Other¬
wise, players will call their characters

Neutral but have them act in a somewhat
Evil manner. Typically, the so-called
Neutral will freely attack anyone or
anything without reason, although this
freedom of action ought to be reserved for
Evil characters. In fact, lack of attention to
restraints on Neutrals leads surely to the
thug syndrome. Neutral characters must
undergo an alignment change, or lose
experience points, if they act either too
Good or too Evil, or else all characters will
come to act the same way.

Law and Chaos

If one may generalise, it is the Good-Evil
axis of alignment that can most easily be
affected by rewards. On the other axis,
players are so naturally Lawful or Chaotic
in the way they play characters that there
seems to be no way to merely encourage
Lawful or Chaotic behaviour. At least. I've
found none. Instead, to reflect Lawful or
Chaotic philosophy-religion we need
actual differences in rules and proced¬
ures for Lawful as opposed to Chaotic
characters. In other words, we're en¬
couraging Good-Evil play while more or
less forcing characters to act in a Lawful
or Chaotic manner.

Chaotic Action

I have known players who rolled dice to
help determine a Chaotic character's
actions. How much they actually 'obeyed'
the dice result is open toquestion, butthe
principle is obvious. Nonetheless, I've
heard of no referee who made up dice
tables to determine actions of player
characters. Some referees simply order
that characters take certain actions,
despite the desires of the players, but this
is likely to create tremendous antagon¬
ism, to say the least. The established
campaign rules, rather than referee fiat,
should determine actions.

For example, if you force players to play
faster than they'd like, giving them
insufficient time to decide what to do, a
form of chaos results. Some referees do
this to everyone. Others, such as myself.

like to watch the players plan and
overcome obstacles by brainwork, so they
may give players 10 minutes to think
about one minute in the game. To help
reproduce the effects of alignment, allow
Lawful groups to have as much time as
they desire, but force Chaotic groups to
play quickly.

Players who play repeatedly in the
same group, with the same characters,
can overcome the disadvantage of 'fast
time' to some extent, often by letting one
player make most of the decisions. But
Chaotic action can be simulated in other
ways. First, absolutely prohibit any dis¬
cussion between players that could not
occur in the situation presented in the
game. For example, two characters separ¬
ated by 30 feet, who are trying not to
make noise, can't talk to one another so
neither can the players involved (some
referees do this all the time; others such
as myself are anything but strict about it
with Lawful parties). In some situations
the prohibition won't make much differ¬
ence, but in others it will. At the same
time, have each player state (in order of
character dexterity, perhaps, from lowest
to highest) what his character is doing.
This is bound to create some disorganis¬
ation: the player speaking last can reactto
what has gone before, but a player
speaking early in the round may do
something quite at variance with what
others hope. You can take this one step
further, at some cost in convenience, by
requiring each player to write down, on a
3" x 5" card, what the character is doing
during the round. That really makes for
chaos! Once again these measures
should be imposed on Ghaotic-leaning
parties, not Lawful ones.

Lawful Action

Something should be done to force
characters to act Lawfully, as well.

The epitome of chaos in AD&D is the
Deck of Many Things (other games
sometimes have similar randomising de¬
vices). Here we have an item which
grants great boons or inflicts great woes
at the random draw of a card. Can you
imagine a truly Lawful character consign¬
ing their fate to chance by drawing cards?
Only the howling Chaot, or perhaps a
Neutral who doesn't give much of a damn
about their own welfare (and probably
ought to be called Chaotic) should be
allowed as a matter of alignment to
choose from a Deck of Many Things. Or
to put it another way, any Lawful drawing
from a Deck, except in circumstances in
which nothing else can save the party, is
committing a most heinous Chaotic act
and should have their alignment changed
accordingly! Similarly, any kind of ran¬
dom button-pushing, lever-pulling, or
dice rolling (to decide which direction to
go, for example) is the antithesis of
Lawfulness. But warn the players, give
them a chance to change their minds,
before you drop a god's wrath on their
characters. If you don't enforce the Law/
Chaos axis in such a clear-cut case as
this, you may as well revert to the original

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

system in which only Good and Evil
existed (though they were called Law and
Chaos).

If you want to break nominally Lawful
characters of Chaotic habits by negative
reinforcement rather than by alignment
change, modified Decks may reform them
quickly. The modified Decks should be
almost wholly unbeneficial. For example,
have the player pick a card without
looking at it and hand it to you. Consult a
table you've constructed which converts
good Deck cards to bad. Even better, make
up 'Decks of Several Things' which are
predominantly unbeneficial. After a run
of bad draws, players will begin to think
that 'randomising' isn't such a good idea.
Or if they don't catch on, and keep
picking, they get what they deserve for
such foolishness. After all, who is to say
that someone making a magic Deck will
balance good and bad? Levers and but¬
tons to push and pull will accomplish the
same end. Those who customarily mon¬
key with everything in sight will soon
change their habits when the results are
usually bad.

Treasure

Different groups of players seem to have
different ways of dividing non-monetary
treasure obtained during adventures. But
the referee can impose rules which
simulate Law or Chaos. For example, the
most Chaotic method would be 'grabbers
keepers' — whoever gets their hands on a
treasure first, keeps it, at least until
someone else forces or persuades them
to give it up. The most Lawful method
might be to have the players decide,
logically and calmly, who most deserves,
and can most use, each item found, and if
some items are particularly valuable,
compensation can be paid to the less
fortunate. However, there are very few
groups of players who can do this without
generating hard feelings, at best, and

violent antagonism at worst. Asa practic¬
al matter, the most Lawful method I
impose is to require each player (not
character, again for obvious reasons) to
roll ad20. The highest roller chooses first,
lowest last; if there are more items than
players, the sequence begins again atthe
bottom, working up. So the player who
picked first in the first round will pick last
in the second. Players can then decide for
themselves what items are most valu¬
able, regardless of the character class
involved, and continuing the choice from
the bottom up helps even out the value of
the items picked.

If 'grabbers keepers' also results in
antagonism, then a Chaotic method
which is more peaceful is to have each
player roll separately for each magic item,
as it is found. Granted, this may result in
one player receiving several items, and
another none, but what could be more
Chaotic?

Hit Points

The most orderly and predictable method
of assigning hit points would be to give
each character exactly the average in¬
crease at each level, for example 4V 2 for a
fighter, 3V 2 for a cleric in AD&D. If half hit
points are not wanted, the player can flip
a coin to get 1-2, adding an appropriate
number to give the required average. For
example, 1-2 +4 is the same average as
1-10, though the range and standard
deviation are much smaller. Anything in
between can be used, such as d4+3, d6+2
or d8+1. To simulate Law/Chaos, require
Chaotic characters to roll the normal hit
die, giving the large variation; require
Lawful characters to roll a d2 (coin) or d4
and add as appropriate; and let characters
who are neither Lawful nor Chaotic
choose something in between, depending
on which way they lean. If you use this
method, it should be mandatory for all
characters, not a matter of choice.

Conclusion

Some of the methods above won't work if
players form parties consisting of mixed
alignments of characters. Having had
experience with both 'pure' and mixed
parties, I've learned that the more mixed
the alignments are, the less alignment
affects the personalities and actions of
the player-characters. The extreme is the
party including all alignments, Good and
Evil, Law and Chaos: everyone is forced to
act Neutrally in order to somehow tolerate
the others, with a leaning toward the thug
syndrome (frankly, if I ever referee an ex¬
tremely mixed party I'll make sure they're
at each others' throats in no time, or a lot
of alignments will change!). When every¬
one is of the same alignment, it's easier to
collectively act in accordance with that
alignment. In fact, there's kind of re¬
inforcing moral support in numbers and
purity which makes it easier to act
'righteously'.

The more extreme one's alignment is,
the harder it is to act properly in a mixed
party because the other party members
are likely to disagree with your proposed
course of action for one reason or another
related to the alignment. Consider a
Lawful Good character in a Neutral/
Neutral party. When he proposes a Good
act, the Neutrals may want to avoid it
because it would be dangerous yet gains
nothing for them. When the Neutrals
want to try something that has the taint of
Evil and Chaos, the Lawful Good char¬
acter will have great difficulty dissuading
them unless he is far more powerful or is
indispensible to the party.

If alignment is to be useful guide to
role-playing in your campaign, you must
go beyond the published rules to encour¬
age, or enforce, action in accordance with
alignment. Otherwise, unless you're a
very fortunate referee, you may as well
forget it, and resign yourself to watching
the thug syndrome dominate play.

J& Lew Pulsipher

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' AS GOD IS MY WITNESS

The Judicium Dei in Medieval Europe

The Judicium Dei, or trial by ordeal,
was perhaps one of the most colour¬
ful aspects of the medieval legal
system, as well as one of the most
misunderstood. The later use of
various types of ordeal in witch-trials
has led to the widespread impression
that trial by ordeal was no more than
a means of tormenting a prisoner
whose fate was already sealed. While
this may way have been the case in
the 16th and 17th centuries, the
original Judicium Dei of Anglo-Saxon
law formed a coherent body of legis¬
lation revolving around the certainty
of divine intervention on behalf of an
innocent party.

The biographies of the early saints
show us that divine miracles were an
accepted part of everyday life in Dark Age
and early Medieval Europe, so that it was
unthinkable that a direct appeal to divine
justice should go unanswered. On the
other hand, though, the biblical stricture
about testing God's powers does seem to
have been forgotten, since the ordeals
are explicit attempts to force a miracle —
in effect, those conducting the trial are
saying, 'Okay, God, give us a miracle or
this character gets it'.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the
concept of trial by ordeal, however, it
remains an interesting and unusual legal
practice, which might be used to add a
little medieval authenticity to a despotic
state in any fantasy campaign. It was not
a new idea in the Dark Ages; the Book of
Numbers, V, 11-31 gives the procedure
for an ordeai by holy water, similar to the
Saxon trial by Parsned (see below), to
determine whether or not a woman is
guilty of adultery, while the Greek play¬
wright Sophocles (Antigone, v.270) was
familiar with an ordeal by hot iron similar
to the Saxon ordeal described below.

To set the Judicium Dei in its historical
and legal context, it must be said that the
more usual form of trial in Anglo-Saxon
England was somewhat less theatrical.
The plaintiff in a civil case, having
obtained leave (probably from his lord's
manor court, as in Norman times) to take
his grievance to the county court ( scyrge-
mot or shire moot), took oath on the truth
of his claim and presented as many
witnesses as would willingly support
him. They were under no compulsion to

attend the court, as today, but appeared of
their own free will, and a man who could
persuade no-one to support him had no
case. The witnesses took oath in turn, and
the defendant then presented his case in
a similar manner. Judgement was then
made, and execution of the judgement or
surety of execution was arranged.

Twelve-handed Witness

The procedure in criminal cases was
broadly similar, the accuser becoming
prosecutor by virtue of his accusation,
and the accused, if he swore to his
innocence, being charged with the task of
clearing his name. There was only one set
of witnesses, who were not supporters of
one side or the other, and their attend¬
ance in the court was compulsory.

The importance of witnesses to this
system cannot be overstated; especially
in civil cases, they could make or break a
case, and it was possible for a defendant
to clear himself of some charges by
appearing at the court 'twelve-handed' —
with a dozen people who were willing to
swear to his innocence — although the
numbers of witnesses needed depended
upon the seriousness of the charge and
the social standing of the defendant. This
and other oath sureties, along with
sureties on land, holdings and other
property, formed the backbone of the
legal system, and trial by ordeal was
generally only applied as a last resort; a
demonstration, if you will, that God was
prepared to support a man where perhaps
his neighbours had failed to do so.

Once leave had been sought and
granted for a trial by ordeal, the type of
ordeal was prescribed, depending upon
the nature of the charge and the social
standing of the defendant, and solemn
preparations were made for the test. The
Saxon king AEthelstan issued a decree in
AD928 concerning trial by ordeal, which
sets down the following preparations:

'Such who are to be tried by ordeal,
shall be ceremoniously prepared there¬
unto, with the solemn manner of that
trial... Let him who shall... be tried by the
ordeal go to the mass priest three days
before he enters upon the trial, that the
priest may hallow it according to custom;
and in the meantime let him feed on
bread and water, salt, and herbs only, and
besides let him be present on those days
at the mass, and let him offer his gift.

Moreover, on the day wherein he is to
enter upon the ordeal, let him take the
bread of the Eucharist, and swear the
oath, according to folk-right, that he is
innocent of the crime of which he is
accused. And then let the accuser urge
the accusation by a fore-oath as we
before ordained, and let every one of the
persons on either side who may be there,
be fasting, by the command of God and
the priest, and let not either accuser or
accused come attended by more than
twelve persons'. This last condition was
presumably to avert any threat to public
order or to the fairness of the trial which
might be posed by the presence of large
numbers of supporters of one or both
sides.

Prescribed Ordeals

When all the ritual preparations had
taken place, the trial could begin. There
were various types of ordeal, according to
the nature and gravity of the charge and
the social standing of the accused. The
ordeal of fire was normally reserved for
those of higher birth, while the lower
classes were subjected to the ordeal of
hot water. The ordeal of cold water was
also used on commoners, but is more
famous today for its re-use in the 16th
century for 'swimming' witches. Other
ordeals were prescribed for special cir¬
cumstances. An ordeal could be onefold
(simplex) or threefold (triplex) according
to the crime involved. The most common
crimes demanding a threefold ordeal
were sacrilege, treason, murder, idolatry,
sorcery, and counterfeiting, although a
person of ill-repute could be set a
threefold ordeal for any crime on the
basis of his known antisocial tendencies.
The most common punishment accom¬
panying a failed ordeal was death, al¬
though loss of one hand was the usual
penalty for striking false coin. In some
cases it was possible to commute the
penalty into a fine equal to the wer of the
accused; this sum was, literally, his
worth, and was also used to calculate
compensation for his death (wergild) and
the value of his oath. In order to commute
a penalty to such a fine, the accused
and/or a number of his kin had to stand
surety for his future good behaviour — in
effect, the accused would be given a
suspended sentence and bound over to
keep the peace.

IMAGINE nujgaanc, November 1984

Commonly used in ecclesiastical cases or
cases involving canon law, there were
two forms of this ordeal. The first and
common form involved two wooden rods
wrapped around with wool, upon one of
which was inscribed the sign of the cross;
most, the ordeal was simply a heads-or-
tails affair in which the accused had to
pick the rod with the cross.

The second form, sometimes used in

Elite QndeaH of the ©toss

civil cases involving the clergy, involved
both sides standing before the high cross
of a church with their arms outstretched
as if crucified. Whoever became ex¬
hausted first, so that he was unable to
hold up his arms, lost the case. Naturally,
the clergy were able to appoint a re¬
presentative or champion in order to
avoid compromising the dignity of their
position.

‘Elite ©/ideal! of, Cofid ^Wate/i

For this ordeal, the accused was stripped
and sprinkled with holy water, and then
his hands were bound to his feet and a
rope was tied about his waist. This rope
was marked with a knot 2Zi ells (approx 9ft
6in) from the end around the accused's
waist (>Ethelstan's laws only required Vh
ells, about 5ft 6in), and the accused was
thrown into a river, pond or other con¬
venient body of water. The principle
behind the ordeal was that the water,
being a pure and natural element, would
reject evil, so that in order to prove his
innocence the accused was required to
sink until the knot on the rope went
underwater. This ordeal formed the basis
for the 1 6th century practice of 'ducking'
or 'swimming' suspected witches, and
may have been altered at the time to
make it more difficult, but certainly those
who drowned at any time through this
ordeal were acquitted of all charges and
given a Christian burial.

‘EXIte 0/ideal of, zddot CAAite/t

This ordeal is similar in some ways to the
Ordeal of Fire, and was sometimes used
as a commoners' variant. The accused
had to retrieve a stone from the bottom of
a vessel full of boiling water; the water
was wrist-deep for a onefold ordeal, or
elbow-deep for a threefold ordeal. As
with the Ordeal of Fire, the accused's arm
was bound and sealed and inspected
after three days for any sign of injury.

This was a means apparently widely used
by the richer classes, who could appoint a
champion rather than fight in person.
Trial by combat was perhaps less willingly
granted than the other forms of ordeal, at
least in criminal cases; however, William
the conquerer decreed that any Saxon
accused by a Norman of theft, perjury,
murder, manslaughter or robbery had the
automatic right of recourse to arms.

Trial by combat was a fairly simple
affair in England, the nobles using lance,
sword, dagger and sometimes axe, while
the commons used quarterstaves or sand¬
bags. In Medieval Germany, however,
judicial duel was a far more elaborate
affair, with a wider range of weapons and
a greater variety of causes and types of
duel.

One type of duel was that of husband
against wife, to settle domestic cases.
The husband was put in a waist deep hole
or barrel with his left hand bound tightly
to his side and a short wooden stave in his
right. The wife stripped down to her
chemise, which was bound together
between the knees for the sake of
decency, and was equipped with a three-
pound rock, hung in a fold of her sleeve,
for use as an improvised flail or a
blackjack.

This was by no means the most bizarre
form of judicial duel practised in Ger¬
many; one of the strangest duelling
weapons was with the schi/d (see f ig 1) —

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

‘EJ/uafi by Combat

literally a shield, but equipped with a
number of blades and points for use as a
weapon. It was used two-handed, with a
shortened quarterstaff grip, and its great
number of points made it a very com¬
plicated weapon to use. Occasionally the
shield would be held one-handed, and the
combatants would have small clubs.

Another unusual weapon was the hutt
(lit. 'hat')which may have developed from
the use of the helmet as a mailed fist. The
weapon was like a small helmet or domed
shield-boss, and was used for parrying
and in bludgeoning attacks, sometimes
alone but more frequently in conjunction
with a one-handed sword or dagger.

More mundane weapons used in duels
included swords of all descriptions, two-
handed swords being especially popular,
as well as battleaxes, poleaxes and

daggers. Full armour was worn when
fighting with most weapons, although
pure swordfights frequently took place in
just doublet and hose. One duelling
manual illustrates combatants using the
schi/d as being dressed in a type of
hooded catsuit which leaves only the
face, hands and feet bare, but it is not
known whether this was the usual dress
for such a duel.

To return to England, it was customary
for the loser in a trial by combat to pay a
fine in addition to relinquishing his claim,
especially in cases involving property,
and if a champion was employed. In the
more important cases the losing cham¬
pion was likely to lose a hand, presumably
since the likelihood of becoming a cripple
would make him less sympathetic to¬
wards any attempt at bribery.

Hindu Ordeals

It Is not only European Medieval law
which uses the concept of trial by
ordeal; Hindu law prescribes eight types
of ordeal, some of which are totally
different to those used in Europe, while
others are variations of those already
described.

rJ/uaf by ^Balance

The accused was ritually prepared and
weighed. The charge was written on a
piece of paper which was bound to his
head and he was weighed again. If he
was lighter the seond time, his inno¬
cence was proved! If both readings were
the same, he was reweighed until a
difference was found.

'ET/tial by ©if

Apart from the use of oil, which presum¬
ably permitted a higher temperature,
this was identical to the European trial
by hot water.

'Uniat! by giot 3non

As the European version, except that
the accused's hand is prepared with
certain herbs, and he must step through
a succession of eight circles marked on
the ground while carrying the hot iron,
throwing it into the ninth.

Uniat! by Uine

This trial involved walking a prescribed
distance over hot coals, while the feet
remained unharmed.

Uniatl by ©A/afe*

Holding the foot or staff of a Brahmin
who stands on the riverbank to supervise
the ordeal, the accused must remain
submerged for as long as it takes for a
man to walk the prescribed distance.

Uniat! by poison

There are two forms of this ordeal; the
accused either takes poison himself or
must retrieve an object from a jar con¬
taining one or more poisonous snakes.

Uniat! by Coskt

Cosha is water in which idols have been
ritually washed. It is not clear whether
this water is applied to the accused
internally or externally, but if he is guilty
it will produce a disease of some kind.

g/iiad by t£of

Two figurines, commonly representing
a patron deity of justice, are placed in a
pot. One is of silver, the other of iron.
The accused, blindfolded, must draw
out the silver figurine to establish his
innocence.

Uke Onded of tyansned

Also known as Corsned, this ordeal was
based upon the assumption that the
sacred nature of Communion bread would
cause it to have an unpleasant effect on
any evildoer. The use of Communion
bread for the ordeal was later considered
profane, and a cake of barley bread of one
ounce in weight was used instead. It was
believed that an evildoer would be unable
to swallowthe sacramental host, or that it
would cause severe internal pains as it
tried to purge the body of evil.

One of the less arduous ordeals, this is
the trial to which clergymen most often
appealed, perhaps understandably.

gbe OndeaQ of the Co/ipse

Commonly used in murder cases, this
was perhaps more like an identity parade
than an ordeal, as a number of suspects
were made to approach the body, which,
it was believed, would begin to bleed
again in the presence of the murderer.
Other reports tell of the spirit of the
murder victim returning to identify the
culprit under similar circumstances.

giie OndeaH of Uine

While the accused was being prepared
for this ordeal, four stakes were set up at
intervals of 3 feet, marking out a total
distance of 9 feet or three paces. The
hand of the accused was washed with
holy water and inspected to prevent
subterfuge, and he was made to stand by
the first stake, where he received the
'judgement', a piece of Iron weighing one
pound for a onefold ordeal or three
pounds for a threefold ordeal, which had
been heated to red. According to Aithel-
sta n, ‘At the first mark next to the stake he
shall set his right foot , and at the second
his left foot , and thence he shall remove
his right foot to the third mark , where he
shall throw down the iron and hasten to
the holy altar' . At the church, his hand
was bound and sealed with the church
seal, and it was inspected after three
days. If there was no trace of a burn, the
accused was judged to be innocent
through this miraculous recovery.

There are some references to an
alternative form of ordeal by fire, whereby
the accused has to walk barefoot over
nine red-hot ploughshares, or according
to some sources, walk blindfold over
them without treading on any. The evi¬
dence for this ordeal is sketchy and has
been subject to some doubt, and if it was
used it was certainly a much rarer form.

I rial by ordeal forms only one asoect,
and a small one at that, of the Medieval
legal system. In a campaign, of course, it
might be possible to have an extreme
despotism in which all legal matters are
settled by ordeal or combat; Suetonius'
life of the Roman Emperor Caligula or a
history of the reign of Commodus will
provide the aspiring tyrant with lots of
ideas along these lines.

For any reader interested in learning
more about the early Medieval English
legal system, there are a number of
general books in paperback, such as
Wilson's The Anglo-Saxons and Wait-
lock's The Beginning of English Society
(both published in the UK by Pelican),
which give a good overall view of English
history and society in this period. Many of
the finer details are only to be found in
specialised publications which the
general reader will probably find difficult
to obtain.

As a tailpiece, it is worth noting that
there are several magical items men¬
tioned in Medieval European literature
which operate along a similar principle to
the trial by ordeal. Gerald of Wales, for

example, in his History and Topography of
Ireland, mentions a cross in Dublin which
twice threw back a coin that was offered
there by an archer who had recently been
guilty of sacrilege; at last the archer
confessed and did penance, and the cross
accepted the coin. Ariosto, in Orlando
Furioso, mentions a magical cup, from
which no lady might drink who had been
false to her husband, for it would spill its
contents on her. The Holy Grail itself
appears to be a similar item, as only the
purest knight who has ever lived could so
much as lay hands on it, while the sword
in the stone seems to have worked in the
same way, and there are many similar
concepts in Arthurian legend.

life Graeme Davis

Bibliography

The main sources used in this article are as follows:

Coote, H C 'On the Legal Procedure of the Anglo-Saxons'

Archeo/ogia XU (1867), pp 207-18

Gibson, W S 'On some Ancient Modes of Trial, especially those in which
Appeal was made to the Divine Judgement through the Ordeals
of Water, Fire and other Judicia Dei'

Archeo/ogia XXXI (1847), pp 263-97

Pearsall, R L 'Some Observations on Judicial Duels, as practised in Germany'
Archeo/ogia XXIX (1842), pp 348-61

Vidal, R S 'Some Remarks on the different kinds of trial by Ordeal, which
formerly prevailed in England'

Archeo/ogia XV (1806), pp 192-7.

Archeo/ogia isthe Journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Ancient sources mentioned in the text can all be found in the
paperback Penguin Classics series.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

Tjrmerrnan ' The Doman ' ' TheWon ' Fbhlo Tanq uay ‘ The Rubbermon ' Borin Anima/masfeJL

1 9 PABLO FANQUAY'S FAIR 1 9b

Pablo Fanquay's Fair has been a welcome sight around the labyrinthine
streets of the League for many years. Although the individual
performers come and go, Pablo manages to maintain high standards
and so his Fair is hailed as the best. It's not an easy reputation to
maintain; there are other Fairs, not all run by honest law-abiding
citizens like Pablo. Bribing acts to move from one Fair to another is
common practice, and star performers mysteriously disappear. But as
few questions are asked of the past in the Guild of Thespians, star
performers can mysteriously appear as well. The Guild of Thespians is a
strange body; a performer is not expected to join immediately but only
after proving his or her talent. It's interesting to note that there has H

never been a popular street performer that was not a member of the S

Guild. Pablo is a member as are all of his troupe. They live in brightly I

coloured wagons, moving from one site to another, never staying more W

than five nights in one location, and constantly harrassed by petty D
officialdom over this By-law or that.... But even on Festival Days, with C

the restriction on the gathering of crowds, the show must go on! Ch 18

19c

The Rubberman (aka Longelf); M; Fr6; N/LN;

No weapon; AC 6; hp 20/30;

□ Dull cloth smock and trews during the day, red trunks
during performances

□ Tumbler and Contortionist (Thespian)

□ Selfish, introverted, mean, trustworthy, paradoxical

□ No known friends, confidant of Pablo (19a) and is his
deputy

The Man (aka i'Nimma); F; Fr3; L/LG;

No weapon; AC 9/10; hp 9/12

□ Various costumes depending on the performance, always
plays a man

□ Mummer (Thespian)

□ Warm, generous, caring, shy, stubborn, will of iron

□ Twin sister of The Woman (19d), niece of Fiorrantanis (9b)
and Deorrantanis (50a)

19a

Pablo Fanquay; M; FriO; C/CG;

Whip; AC 5/6; hp 40/60

□ Normally in brown leathers, but at show-time dons a

scarlet robe with yellow trim and a tall green hat with a

huge bright feather

□ Showman (Thespian)

□ Loud, charming, shrewd, devious and unscrupulous

□ Claims acquaintance with practically everyone of note, all
know of him but few know him - an enigma

1 QJ The Woman (aka i'Nemma); F; Fr3; l/lg;

No weapon; AC 9/10; hp 9/12
H

S 10 □ Various costumes depending on the performance, always

I 17 plays a woman
W 14 □ Mummer (Thespian)

D 1 3 □ Warm, generous, caring, cocky, stubborn, will of iron

C 9 □ Twin sister of The Man (19c), niece of Fiorrantanis (9b)

Ch 18 and Deorrantanis (50a)

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

17 □

13 □

14 □

11 □

8 □

7 □

12 □

18 □

Borin Animalmaster; M; F8/R8; L/NG;

Trident and whip; AC 5; hp 55/60

Huge, dark and bearded, wears chain mail over leathers
Retired adventurer now Animal Trainer (Thespian)

Jolly, loud, cheerful, secretly deeply sad
A loner - Borin has away with animals, he considers them
his friends; his current collection includes a boggle, a
dakon and two owl-bears

Zimmerman; M; Th7; c/LE;

Dagger; AC 7/8; hp 20/35

Handsome (for a human), tall, blonde, dresses in colourful
silks

Full-time thief, singer (Thespian); Zim sings beautifully but
still makes more money as an expert pick-pocket
Charming, mesmeric, sneaky
Brother of Flossy Jostle (1b)

19g

Accompanying the Fair are six boys and girls who clean and
cook for the troupe and twelve men-at-arms who double as porters. The
men-at-arms are all F2, hp 9 and are armed with spears and
broad-swords.

STORYLINES

1. It has been a worry to Pablo for some time that a crafty team of
pick-pockets seems to be dogging the footsteps of his Fair. Although not
a gnome to begrudge anyone a living, Pablo doesn't want to acquire a
reputation that might prejudice his earnings. Thus he is quite likely to
hire a few sophisticated adventurers to find out what is going on. In fact
it is Zim who is picking pockets whilst he walks amongst the crowd
singing. His singing is so beautiful, his normal chance of being able to
escape detection is doubled (to 42% in AD&D games).

2. In the troupe are twins who are brilliant mummers. They enact the
roles of ordinary folk with great poignancy; touching the hearts of all
who watch with their carefully drawn portraits of everyday life. The DM
can use them for several purposes; one of which is to introduce
adventures to the players. In these days of great superstition, a
mummer's show might attract great attention and it would not be hard
for PCs to hear of it. They could then watch the show and recieve what,
to them, seem like clear instructions. If questioned, the twins will
always say that their performances appear to them in dreams and will
offer no further information. For example, if a DM wants players to
embark on module SI (being a sadist) the mummers could tell of a
wolf-hunter and her husband out on a hunt during which they found the
entrance to the Tomb of Horrors. The mummers describe how to get
there and even introduce some extra clues about the dungeon.

Not everyone in the world makes their living from seeking out nasty
holes in the ground and persuading innocent cockatrices and shambling
mounds to give up their hard earned cash. Some people actually work
for a living. Not least among this peerless group are those who work
within the brotherly embrace of .the Guild of Thespians. Nowhere is the
distinction between the haves and the have-nots more clearly defined: a
Thespian with talent can be assured of fame, food, and a fortune; one
without could have fame of a kind, inedible food thrown at him or her,
and be fortunate to escape alive. Even in the City League there are those
who care genuinely about public opinion.

Counted among the Thespians you will find:

actors, either singly or in bands, who with memorised word and
studied movement recreate heroic deeds or moments of love
unrequited;

yarners and jokers repeating sagas of epic proportions and merry
jests;

prestidigitators astonishing the crowds with their sleight of hand
(or, who knows, genuine magic!);

jugglers apparently defying gravity and appearing to have four
hands (those jugglers that already have four hands would be
expected by the discerning crowd to appear to have at least six);
acrobats performing death-defying stunts and fine feats of
balance;

ventriloquists causing consternation by casting their cries about
the courtyards;

animal trainers and their performing xorns, hoar foxes and
gelatinous cubes;

dancers enchanting all with their grace;

mummers causing laughter and tears and never uttering a word;
singers giving voice to the feelings of the ordinary people and
keeping a wary eye open for any wandering bards (you might seek
to emphasise their monopoly in that field);
all these and more you will find — each one vying with the next for the
praise and reward of the crowd.

reeft® ©£ {tike Gift j L@agune

The most important ability needed by the PC is charisma. How much can
be earned will depend upon charisma, the mood of the crowd and the
local conditions.

In order to calculate how much is earned the DM should use the
following procedure:

1. Establish how many people come to watch by rolling 1 d 12 and
adding the result to the character's charisma

2. Apply the modifiers shown below to calculate the final number of
people watching at the end of the performance. If you are not sure which
option applies, roll 1d6 to determine the modifier in each case. The
modifiers are cumulative. A fortunate soul with a high charisma could
have as many as 240 people watching by the end of the performance.

Modification DOUBLE SAME

Area of City League (1) Wealthy (2-4) Normal
Local activity (1-2) Holiday 1 (3-5) Normal

Neighbours (1 -3) Near Event 3

Weather (1-4) Fair

HALF

(5-6) Poor
(6) Day of Gloom 2
(4-6) Near others 4
(5-6) Rain

Notes:

1 —A holiday would be a day of public celebration likea Feast day orthe
day of a hanging; not to be confused with Festival Days, during which
assemblies of more than 30 people are supposedly banned

2 — A day of gloom would be one on which newtaxes had been declared

3 — An event would be something like the Circus or a public flogging

4 — If the performance takes place near Thespians remember they are
likely to take a very dim view of the competition and may well get a bit
rough.

3. Each watcher will then throw 1d4 copper coins as reward for the
performance.

What then of a PC who needs to make enough for a hot supper and a
night's shelter? As can be seen there are many professions to lure him,
all of which fall under the aegis of the Guild of Thespians. Naturally, a
player will be well advised only to attempt those things at which the
character would have a reasonable chance of being competent.
Remember, though, that no PC would ever be as good as a trained
Thespian — they simply would not have the time to acquire the expertise
and polish. A magic-user or illusionist should have no fears of
prestidigitation or ventriloquism, or of providing entertaining light
shows to enhance the performance of actors or mummers. Thieves and
thief-acrobats could reasonably expect to be successful as jugglers,
dancers or acrobats — though the thief-acrobats should remember that
the skills required in the class are not designed to be appreciated by a
critical and ignorant public.

A successful performance may bring its own problems as if more than
150 gather to watch the District Militia will arrive in 1 d4 turns to ask
them to move along. In the meantime, the performers may find that they
have upset a few travellers and traders by blocking the streets. Similarly
if more than 200 copper coins are thrown then the local beggars and
thieves will 'help' the PC remove them at the rate of 1d20 coins per
melee round until the remainder are removed.

PC Breakdancing: A more entertaining way of achieving similar
results is to get the player to describe the performance the character is
going to give (make sure it's something possible), and then to act it out in
front of you and the other players. You can then score the performance
on a scale from 1 to 20 and multiply that score by the character's
charisma to get the number of copper pieces thrown.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

‘Deep in the. heart of'Vehnore has groum the City League;
a mighty hive of humanity, offering everything an
adventurer could desire. Loch month I9dAQI9fL
magazine presents a few Buildings from within the City:
describes their inhabitants; and offers one or two ideas for
adventures. This provides an ideal campaign base for the
TtM who can collect these articles and s teadily Build them
up into the most comprehensive campaign setting
available. Copy them, or cut them out and store them in a
ring file — and you need never Be short of an idea for a
City encounter again.

PEL1N * 1

THE CITY LEAGUE

qROUOD FLS3DR.

ATTIC FUDR.

FRQT2T D1EU)

14 THE COCK O'TH'WALK TAVERN

by Graeme Drysdale

TfteR ules

Know then, o warrior, that these are the rules of combat: -

pay 5 gold for the honour
enter the arena nafpd and weaponless
foreswear foul uHzardry

fight until your foe yields or cannot provide defence
defend your name each day

the value of transgressions will taken out of your hide
so fight on, be daring and may Cram spit in your eye

The Cock o' Th' Walk Tavern is an establishment jointly owned by two
brothers, Arbal and Asakrin Stoutheart. The tavern has been the family
business for generations, providing satisfactory meals and beverages at
reasonable prices year after year and, consequently, bringing in enough
wealth to keep the occupiers comfortable. However, when the brothers
took over the management after their father's death, they introduced a
new source of entertainment, legal yet dangerous, which has made the
tavern unique and one of the most enjoyable drinking houses in the
League.

For five years now the tavern has had a champion, the 'Cock o'Th' Walk'.
Shortly after dusk, each evening without fail, the 'Cock o' Th' Walk'
enters the arena within the tavern and takes on an individual in hand-to-
hand combat. Whilst the preliminaries are observed, hundreds of gold

pieces change hands in bets, side-bets and side-side-bets. The victor is
awarded the Golden Cockscomb as a trophy and bears the title The Cock
o' Th' Walk', but must return the following evening to defend the title
against further opposition. The victor also gains the fight money paid by
both contestants and on first becoming the champion may drink at will in
the inn. The current champion, undefeated for an unprecedented seven
weeks, is Ungol the 'Orrible (14f).

AD&D game: contestants may use the pummeling, grappling or
overbearing tables (DMG pp72-3); the normal combat tables, counting
Ohp as unconcious rather than dead; the rules from the Companion Set;
or the new rules in DRAGON® # 83.

D&D game: contestants should use the unarmed combat rules from the
Companion Set; the wrestling rules from module X2 or the normal
combat rules, counting Ohp as unconcious rather than dead-fists doing

1 d4 points of damage (plus strength bonuses), unconcious contestants
recovering in 1 d6 turns.

The tavern sells most types of food and drink, even if the quality is not
what it might be. Although usually busy, from dusk until midnight the
place is totally packed out. Brawls are quite likely to break out due to all
the hustling and bustling that takes place. Also, undesirables like Bando
and his friends (14g-i) and Hishael (14j) frequent the premises. There is
a 25% chance on each visit to the tavern that someone tries to pick a
character's pocket. Security in the tavern is maintained by the staff
(14c-e) and the owners (14a&b). They will deal with miscreants vigor¬
ously and will insist that weapons (except daggers) and shields are left
with the staff.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

Workers at the Inn

14a

Arbal Stoutheart; M; F4; l/ln;
Shortsword; AC 7/8; hp 20/28

14h

H/E

□ Red silk shirt, brown trousers, red sash round waist

□ Joint owner of Cock o' Th' Walk Tavern (14)

□ Jolly, talkative and hard-working

□ Brother of Asakrin (14b)

Ch 15

14b

Asakrin Stoutheart; M; F2; L/LG;

Dagger; AC 8/10; hp 12/17

□ White shirt, pale grey waistcoat, grey trousers

□ Joint owner of Cock o' Th' Walk Tavern (14)

□ Small and stocky, red faced, kindly but firm

□ Brother of Arbal (14a)

Ch 9

14c

Isabel; F; F3; L/LN;

Mace and dagger; AC 6/7; hp 12/16

□ Padded leather jerkin and leggings

□ Barwoman/bouncer

□ Generally unhelpful and only interested in herself (and

money!)

□ Sister of Hishael ( 14j ) whom she dislikes, knows Ungol

r 12

(14 f), believes Surreal (14h) stole back a ring she bought

from him and wishes to betray him to the District Militia

Calvorn Chaospreacher; M; F4; c/CN;

Mace and dagger; AC 5/6; hp 18/23

□ Leather trousers and jerkin hidden beneath a green cloak

□ Barman/bouncer

□ Believes only in freedom and individuality, hates law and
makes sure everyone knows it

□ Friendly with Ungol (14f)

Surreal; M; T4; C/CN;

Longsword, dagger; AC 6; hp 11 /16

□ Tall, slight, handsome, wears green cloak, grey shirt with
white sash, green trousers, green cap

□ Burglar/Robber, also a f/etcher

□ A real heart-breaker

□ Member of the local thieves' guild

Eskis Coldbone; M; T3; c/CE;

Longsword; AC 5/6; hp 1 6/20

□ Evi1-looking; wears leather trousers, grey fur jacket, fur
cap, brown shirt

□ Robber/Cutpurse, also a hunter and furrier, bounty hunter

□ Stupid, vulgar amd smelly

□ Independent operator, infamous amongst rangers due to
his hunting activities, knows many hunters and bounty
hunters

Hishael; F; MU6; N/NE;

Dagger +1 ; AC 6/2; hp 27

□ Stunningly good looking; wears silk laced skirt in white
and gold, gold headband, dagger+1,

AD&D game: bracers of defence AC6, wand of fire (12
charges), scroll bearing 1 -(23), 2-(23), 3-(18)

C 16 D&D game: wand of fire-balls, scroll bearing 1-(10),
Ch 18 2-(10,11)

□ Witch/Magician

□ Crafty, malignant and very, very dangerous

□ Sister of Isabael (14c) whom she dislikes, knows Safrine

(9e)

Spell Book: D&D 1-(1*, 6, 8, 9, IV, 12)

2- (1, 3, 5*, 6, 9, 12*)

3- (6*, 9*, 10, 11)

AD&D 1 -(2*. 3*, 8, 9, 16*, 22, 25*, 30)

2- (2, 5, 9*, 10, 15, 24*)

3- (16*, 22*)

14e

Dalin 'the Dour'; M; Dw5/F5; n/N;

Mace and dagger; AC 8; hp 30/43

□ Grey shirt, leather waistcoat, gloves and leggings

□ Bardwarf/bouncer

□ Quiet, sombre, dismal and completely, staggeringly
boring!

□ Brother of Shoril Ge me utter (16 a), has known Bando (14g)
since he was little though they are hardly friends

14k

h/v 2

S 17

15
12

16
13

Anatol; M; F6/R6; N/NG;

Longsword +2; AC 3; hp 40/51

□ Tall and wiry; green-stained travel cloak concealing
chainmail +2, helm, scroll of protection from lycan-
thropes, boots of speed

□ Myrmidon/Guide and bounty hunter

□ Shrewd, worldly wise, very neutral (good), hopelessly
enamoured of Hishael (141)

□ Knows Hishael (141)

14f

h/v 2 o

S 18 86
I 9
W 7
D 18
C 17
Ch 4

h/v 2

Regular visitors to the Inn
Ungol the 'Orrible; M; F6; c/ce;

No weapon; AC 6; hp 40/56

□ Grey loin cloth (outside the arena: platemail +2 over grey
shirt and trousers - AC0, broad sword +2 )

□ The Cock o' Th' Walk (normally Myrmidon)

□ Tall, ruthless, utterly depraved, capricious, fearless - all-
in-all a splendid chap

□ Independent, few friends and no family; Ungol is a
magnificent brawler; in the AD&D game he gains 10% on
the base score to hit and 15% on the damage done (or +2 if
normal combat rules are used); in the D&D game +2 to hit
and damage

Bando Bushfoot; M; T6; n/N;

Shortsword +2; AC 7; hp 14/27

□ Brown cloak and trousers, white shirt

□ Sharper/FUcher

□ Jovial, bright-eyed and intelligent, but gambles without
using his brains - and always loses

□ Son of Goldy and Haffo Brushfoot (17a&b) the cobblers
(17), member of the local thieves' guild, knows Dalin (14e)
and Shoril (16a) who is his parents' neighbour

PLOTLINES

1. Why does an attractive, talented and powerful woman like
Hishael spend her time in a dive like this; why does Anatol follow her;
what have the mysterious Knights Ocular to do with it all? Someone,
somewhere will be looking for answers — and someone to find them!
The truth is that Hishael is luring attractive men (Chi 5+) to her rooms
(using spells if necessary) where she kills them, loots the bodies and
uses the remains to concoct potions and poisons. She is being watched
by Anatol who oftens thwarts her plans (the chance of her approaching
an appropriate man is 75%, the chance of Anatol subsequently foiling
her is 50%). Anatol has been hired by the Knights Ocular through a
mysterious go-between; in fact he is supposed to have eliminated
Hishael on behalf of the Knights, but because of his feelings for her is
failing in his duty. He is very fightened that the Knights might come
looking for them both.

2. If Dalin could be persuaded to talk, what secrets could he tell of
the cellars beneath his brother's shop? Once those cellars housed
prisoners; men and women with maps to hide, evidence to lose, treasure
to bury for later recovery. Shoril isn't going to want to find strangers in
his cellars, and with the courthouse right next door he won't be slow to
call for help.

3. Sooner or later, Isabel is going to overcome her reserve, and
challenge Surreal about that necklace. Or will she be looking for an ally
to do the dirty work for her? And just what will the other occupants of the
Tavern do when a loud brawl breaks out....

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

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Compelling fiction of the underworld from Richard WLee

PRINCE

T he three could at best be
described as slovenly, seated as
they were in a raucous, loud-
laughing group.

It was with some surprise that the
onlooker noticed it was the leader who was
the worst in this respect. He watched the
revelry with distaste, at a loss to see why
this pig of a man had earned such renown.
True, he was a tall man, imposing perhaps
when standing, but when seated, his huge
paunch made him more disgusting than
fearsome. His features, too, were grotesque.
The mouth was big-lipped and ugly, and
little complemented by a snubbed nose
shining with grease; even the cheeks,
shrouded as they were with a heavy orange-
blond beard, were pitted and drooping. But
the eyes were the most unpleasant. A light
liquid blue in colour, they never remained
still for a moment; they seemed somehow
hunted, or hunting, and they were un-
mistakeably cruel. However, for all his
obnoxious qualities, it fast became obvious
that this bulbous mass of a man had ample
brains — any idiot could see that. Every¬
thing he did spoke of a natural ability to

lead, to command service. Especially per¬
suasive were those cruel eyes, for they
seemed to pierce far below the surface of
what they saw, and they missed nothing.
Yes, on second thoughts he was an
impressive man. It was well known that by
his own slippery cunning, Aldran had won
immense wealth as a merchant — no easy
feat in a land which regarded riches as the
province of the well-born. The onlooker
now began to realise why.

In a far corner, shadowed from the
flickering candle-light of the tavern, the
thief made a resolution to be extra-careful
with this one.

X he sun blazed down with venomous fury
onto the wasteland, staring like a devil’s
eye on the tortured scrub which defied its
strangling heat. Across this desolate land¬
scape a lone figure moved slowly, his
mount plodding painfully beneath him.
Clothed head to foot in a tight-fitting mail
now thoroughly coated in dust, his protect¬
ion like an oven in the hot sun. A steel
helmet hanging from a heavy laden pack,
and a long curved tulwar which tapped his

legs gently in rhythm with the swing of the
harness completed his equipment. But his
tired face was unexpectedly jubilant, and
the sand-stung, bloodshot eyes were fired
with enthusiasm. He chuckled to himself
as he thought how easy it had been — easy,
that was, for a master thief. Drugs dextrous-
ly slipped into the drinks of companions,
and the tavern owner bribed to leave a
certain window open. Tip-toe along the
corridor. The simple lock picked in an
instant to reveal a frightened Aldran who
was easily manipulated in his dazed state.
Then he too had been drugged like his
companions. The thief would have given
much to see his face when he awoke, head
beating like a drum, and useless rage
seething through him like vitriol when he
thought of the one who had outwitted him.
Now, with his purse full of the merchant’s
money, new armour and sw T ord, and a
sturdy horse for transport, he went on to
who knows what wealth by the fat trades¬
man’s map. He took another mouthful of
water from a large skin, shouted obscenities
at the furious empty sky, and rode on past
crimson sunset into the shadowy desert
night.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

He had to make good time, however. The
desert would not long bear the affront of
such unprotected human life. A brief few
hours’ rest when it became too dark to be
sure of the right way, then back to the
saddle and onwards. After a while he let his
thoughts wander to help ease the gruelling
strain of the journey. Strange, he thought,
that so wealthy a hoard as must be his goal
was so near to a large town and as yet
undiscovered. Of course the reason was
more than in part the legends which
surrounded the place. The nomads spoke

of ghosts and demons haunting the area,
and it was true that some strange stories
were told of how it came to be ruined. But
in his experience he had found that any
deserted city was taboo to those sorts and
the slightest occurrence out of the ordinary
was immediately attributed to the super¬
natural. He dismissed these thoughts as
pointless — when the time came he would
see for himself. That night he camped
within sight of his mysterious destination.

As dawn once more crept over the
landscape, gently pushing the shadows
deeper and deeper into the ravines, the thief
prepared himself for the day ahead. Firstly
he honed his tulwar until it shone, razor
sharp in the fresh morning light, then
delicately he replaced it in its low-slung
sheath. Next he checked through his kit¬
bag: chisels, skeleton keys, solvents, climb¬
ing spikes and all the other items of his
trade. All present. Finally he cleaned his
light armour with oil until he could move
in it quite freely. All neatly packed, he
again mounted his horse and started
forward towards the necropolis.

The ride that day was easier, the remains
of an old road allowing quicker progress.
He reached the fallen walls at the hour
before mid-day and tied up his horse to let
it rest in the shade during the heat of the
day. Time wouldn’t allow that he should
stop, however, and he walked on alone
through the shattered gates. The streets
were silent as death before him, sand
clawing at crumbled stone, and the gaping
doorways of long-derelict houses each
seemed to conceal eyes, watching him. He
took a careful look at his map. The palace,
which supposedly housed the vast treasure,
lay towards the centre of the city. He started
out by what he thought to be the quickest
route, though it was difficult to tell in the
myriad of narrow streets.

A few hundred yards and he was already
scared of losing his direction. A claustro¬
phobic panic grew in him as one street j ust
led to another indistinguishable from the
last. The morbid city rose up all about him,
as if trying to choke him, but he clutched at
his courage and walked on until eventually
he arrived at a richer quarter, with wider

streets and larger, more opulent-seeming
houses. At last he reached the forum. The
silence became even more oppressive when
he looked around the huge empty square,
for it brought to mind the hustle and bustle
of his own home town. It seemed wrong
that everything here was still. Trying to
ignore the feeling, he made his way
hurriedly towards the most commanding
of the buildings which overlooked the
market-place, one with two massive
beaten-bronze doors which fitted the
description on the map. Steeling himself

for possible exertion he squeezed himself
through the narrow gap left by broken
shutters in a window, and leapt lightly
down into the darkness of the palace
beyond.

Moving suddenly from the blazing light
of the forum to the shadows within, he had
to wait some minutes, crouched like a cat,
till his eyes slowly adjusted. The scene that
gradually emerged to him out of the gloom
was one of total destruction. The chamber
had literally been torn to bits; smashed
furniture, shattered busts, torn tapestries;
all manner of debris littered the place. Even
the pillars showed some marks of the fury,
for scratches covered every face. He con¬
tinued on through the hall, entered room
after room, all in similar states of destruct¬
ion. Indeed no room had escaped the
scourge, and though he had been told of the
devastation beforehand, the thief neverthe¬
less could not repress a shudder at the
awesome sight. But these rooms were not
his goal. He was searching for the king’s
private quarters, and, more particularly, a
certain shrine which lay beneath them.

He rushed on, hoping to pass quickly
through the disturbing signs of mayhem.
However, as he sensed himself nearing the
end of his journey, the small arbours
through which he had been passing for
some time came abruptly to an end, and he
burst out into a vast hall. And somehow the
atmosphere in the hall was different.
Everything was ruined, the same as before.
It was not that. Perhaps it was the size of the
room, the subtle echoes it produced. No,
the hairs on his nape would not prickle so
insistently with mere echoes. Perhaps it
was the grim black throne which sprawled
rough-hewn and unlovely, commanding
the scene in austere, brutal splendour. He
couldn’t tell. He resolved to cross the hall
as quickly as possible, and set out at a run.
But he had not covered half the distance
before he was possessed with a terrible urge
to look round. He resisted for as long as he
could, passing long stone tables and a
mosaic dance floor without noticing them
in his hurry to get out of the throne-room.
But the urge was too great. He turned.
Gasping with terror, he watched as thin

wisps of smoke came snaking across the
floor towards him. And he saw with horror
that the entrance from which he had come
was already totally masked by the crawling
vapours.

He tried to make a dash for the door, to
run, but though he strained with all his
might, his legs would not move. The cloud
approached, swirling grey mist, ever near¬
er. And out of the cloud came the clamour
of voices, distant at first but coming closer.
Harsh calls, vicious tones closely enmeshed
with shrieks, desperate and pained. Sud¬
denly, out burst screaming women and
children, old men carrying babies in their
gnarled arms as if they could hope to
protect them, and poor limping beggars
with tears streaming down their agonised
faces — all wildly running and stumbling
and falling. And riding amongst them,
running them to ground, were cruel men
beating about them with maces and clubs.
And if any should stop to help a broken and
bloodied victim, he too was struck down,
trampled under heavy horses’ hooves.
Then a hope came to the thief in a flash of
inspiration: with his armour, his sword,
his warlike manner, he might easily pass
for one of the riders if he played his cards
right. He just had to lay about himself a bit,
hack at a few of the wretched fugitives, and
he might get out of this alive. Hell! What
could he, one man, do against so many?
His instinct told him to swing his mighty
tulwar, strike out at the helpless — after all
that way he would save at least one life. But
even as he was reasoning thus, a small boy
stumbled and fell, an iron clad horse
bearing down upon him. Better to be dead
than one of them! The thief leapt, his
sword swinging lethally at the rider, then
acrobatically he turned and fell, mailed
hands protecting his neck, body shielding
the child, waiting for the pounding hooves
to impact with his back.

But beneath him there was only the cold
stone floor, around him only the swirling
mist. Relief flooded him, and pulling
shaking limbs together, he stood and
started to make his way out of the ghostly
hall. But even as he tried, his legs wouldn’t
move, and the mist began once more to
grow thick around him. Fresh sweat broke
out on his brow, but he gripped his sword
and determined to stand his ground with
valour.

This time no sound came from the mist,
but he saw, as if conjured before him, a
great crowd of people, all gathered in one
huge square. As he watched, the happy
faces slowly changed, became glum and
haunted. As he watched, ten thousand
healthy faces, healthy limbs and bodies
began to develop cankerous contortions,
began slowly to die before him. Not one
was untouched by the plague, not one
remained hale as they fell into painful,
agonising decay. Then as skeletal husks
were all that remained, the crowd began
slowly to move, to surge forward; he
recognised with a numb horror the marble
pillars and the huge bronzen doors of the
palace. The dead swept through the rooms
like a fiery torrent, cleansing the palace
with their wrath and their destruction. And
after a while, as was inevitable, they came
at last to the throne room. The thief

He was possessed with a terrible urge to look round...
Turning, he saw with horror that the entrance was
totally masked by crawling vapours

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

watched them with no particular fear at
first — it was all a dream portrayed in a
misty cloud. But then with a start he
realised that they were becoming more
substantial and that the tide of their
destruction was for the moment stopped —
they seemed to be gathering at the far end of
the hall; gathering, he thought, in judge¬
ment. However, the pause did not last long
before they were advancing again, this time
directly towards him.

As they approached, he looked at them
more carefully than he’d been able to
before; the pain, the grief, the despair, all
struck his sight, and he reeled as if hit by
physical blows. Lost ones to avenge. Life
cut short by a death none deserved. A
cataclysm, a genocide with no purpose. He
felt them reaching out towards him,
searching hands coveting his life; the life
they all deserved. His fear was washed away
in tears of pity as he watched the countless
tortured faces, yearning, desperate. This
should not have had to be! He almost
welcomed the clawlike hands. All they
wanted was to still the life which was such
a cruel mockery to them. They deserved
better than this!

But instead of touching him the hands
passed straight through him. The Damned
passed him by slowly, to be enveloped once
more in the insubstantial smoke. At last
even the smoke faded, and once again he
stood in the empty throne room. Looking
around he saw it changed, for now it was
littered with a host of skeletons, the first, he
realised with a shock, that he had seen in
the city. Perhaps now they could accept
their death. Instinctively he knew that his
path was now free.

He ran through the adjoining rooms,
body and mind feeling amazingly light
after the catharsis of recent events. And
eventually he came to a stairwell, carved
with hideous gargoyles and occult symbols,
which he knew led to the shrine. Fearless
now after his ordeal, he descended the stone

steps without a second thought, to be faced
at the bottom by a monstrous hexagonal
temple. All was decorated in obsidian and
silver and centred on a wide silver pent-
angle drawn before a bloodied altar. Torn
and broken in the midst of this pentangle,
body twisted horribly, lay a single robed
figure, hands still gripping at a cumber¬
some iron coronet. The thief noticed that
in one corner of the gossamer argent device,
the thin web was broken by a hairline
fracture and he thought to himself with
bitter reflection that this tiny nick had cost
the life of a city. But the scourge was long
gone now; called forth by the power of the
sorceror-king it must obey his command,
and even when he was dead it could stay no
longer than his spell had required.

The thief skirted the altar with due
respect, and moved to the far side of the
shrine where lay six grotesquely-carved
tombs. One of these, the map stated, was
false. Middle, left. He faced the largest of
the tombs, carved as the rest, but different
in that the shape of its fallen lord was
adorned with jet and gold. He took from
his pack one of his lock-picks and added an
attachment which would allow him to
work a foot or so away from the tomb. A
few deft twists and he was rewarded by a
dull click as a thin needle shot out to where
his hand would have been. He looked with
distaste at the sharp tip, covered as it was by
some dark substance — undoubtedly a
poison. More careful now, he inserted the
narrow edge of an extremely long crowbar
into the crack of the tomb’s lid. Prising
with all his strength and turning in one
fluid motion to cover his head, he avoided
the main force of the blast, though broken
stone stung every inch of his back. A little
later, when he was sure that there was only
one explosion planned, he lifted himself
painfully up and carefully approached the
now lidless coffin. He looked down at the
dark, dusty stairs which led to the crypt
below.

He lowered himself from the far edge of
the tomb so as to miss out the first few steps
and any further traps that might be
planned there, then gingerly carried on
downwards along a way which spiralled
many times, before at last coming to an
end. The thief sensed before him an open
space; his footsteps echoed in the complete
blackness. Feeling that by this stage he
must be safe, he reached into his pack,
brought out a lamp and tinderbox and
quickly struck a flame. The sight that met
his eyes made his mouth gape wide and his
heart leap with triumph. A reward indeed
for his efforts. Chest upon chest, rows of
chests, each spilling forth its own treasure:
silverware, chandeliers, bars of all the
precious metals, chalices, coins, ceremoni¬
al armour, gilded helmets, temple orna¬
ments — the wealth of a city. He stood for a
while, mute and motionless. Here before
him was the power to buy kings, armies,
nations — even to set up his own prince¬
dom. Glorious dreams tore rampant
through his mind. Galvanised into action
he leapt at the stairs, fairly raced to the top,
and without stopping, burst into the
dimly-lit,shrine. However, as he emerged
over the top of the false tomb some sixth
sense screamed a warning. Too late. Before
he could stop he was in the open.

Aldran! The bulbous mass of the man
was unmistakeable even silhouetted as it
was. But how in heaven’s name could he be
here now? It was impossible, the thief’s
reason howled in outrage. The dust of Cal-
mora, collected at immense peril from the
jungles of the south, could make a man
sleep for a week. The strongest would be
insensible for at least four days, and he had
blown enough in Aldran’s face to fell a
Titan. And yet here he was, his greasy
companions leering from behind the cover
of heavy-looking crossbows. The fat mer¬
chant laughed, humoured by his oppon¬
ent’s obvious confusion. He bowed.

‘My thanks to you. It seems I chose my
thief well.’

‘Chose’ — the thief choked on the word.
Of course. The only way the merchant
could be with him now was if he had taken
an antidote just prior to inhaling the drug.
That must mean that the fat tradesman had
been one step ahead all along! The
realisation brought bile to the thief’s
throat. Still, he had let the tradesman live,
he had only stolen his goods... The hope
died as he saw a small gesture from the
flabby hand. He watched as if in slow
motion as a finger slowly whitened with
pressure on the crossbow’s trigger. At once
a blur of motion he threw himself to one
side, hand j ust reaching the nearest knife as
the quarrel struck his arm, spun him round
in a circle of red agony and down to the
dusty floor. Impossibly he had risen half to
his knees, knife arm back for the throw,
before the next bolt thudded into him, full
in the chest.

‘...be extra careful with this one ...’

The words came back to mock him as his
vision clouded with blood. The laughter
sailed over to him, distant across the
blackness; the last thing he heard.

J& Richard W Lee
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IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

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Nearer, my God.

Clerical specialisation in the AD&D® game

by Chris Felton

‘Begone, foul creature from the depths!’
bellowed Cedric. ‘In the Name of Thor,
begone from this realm!’

‘Nice performance,’ commented Count
Dracula, ‘if a little overacted. But in the
name of a thundergod, shouldn’t you blast
me with a lightning bolt ?’

‘Get thee hence, foul creature of darkness!
I shall truly blast thee with the wrath of
Thor! Athmenni, beldizarr cur dratillae...’

‘Flame strike, hmm? No originality, you
clerics.’ The column of flame roared down
around the Vampire. ‘Now, if you’d hit me
with a thunderbolt you might have done
some real damage, but I knew you were
coming, so I’m wearing my ring of fire
resistance and I’ve got a fire resistance spell
running. Now it’s my turn. I hope you’ve
washed your neck...’

One of the pleasures of being a cleric is
that you are a representative of your deity
in the eyes of the commoners, and a cleric
should strive to be as close to his god as
he can. If a deity's favourite garb is a blue
tunic, the cleric should wear blue tunics
at all times; and if his holy symbol is a
two-handed sword, the cleric should use
a two-handed sword in battle. But there
are problems with this: clerics of thunder-
gods get no lightning spells, gods of
knowledge give their clerics no more
information than any other deity, and so
I on.

But now, from the Nine Thousand,
Eight Hundred and Fifty-Third Deccennial
conference of Heads of Pantheons comes
good news: the Elder Gods have made
concessionsto rightthese imbalances. In
future, clerics will have special rules
which will tie them more closely to their
God's prime attribute.

Clerics whose Holy Symbol is a weapon
will in future use only that weapon in
combat. The Elder Gods realise thatthis is
hard on those clerics whose gods are
known for their missile weaponry, but
that is their problem.

Any cleric whose Holy Symbol is a
weapon found using any other weapon
will incur the wrath of their god. If the
offence is minor — for example, using
such a weapon in a moment of self-
defence without premeditation — the
punishment will be correspondingly
minor: two months serving in the Temple
followed by two months on half-spells
seems reasonable. Greater offences, of
course, will incur greater penalties.

Below is a summary of the concessions,
and attendant penalties, applied by the
Elder Gods. Of course, all restrictions
from the DEITIES & DEMIGODS™ Cyclo¬

paedia still apply. When bodily attire is
specified as 'armour', any sort may be
worn; a specific type must be worn if it is
listed; and if 'robes' or 'tunic' are listed
armour which is not too bulky may be
worn beneath it: leather, padded, ringmail
or chain. Anything else will tear the tunic
to shreds almost immediately, but even
the listed armours will ruin the clothes
over them in 2-5 weeks (less for cheap
clothing), so wearing armour under
clothes except on adventures is strongly
discouraged.

If 'kilt' is specified, a tunic of any of the
non-bulky armours may be worn over it,
so 50% of blows will be at the AC10 legs,
the others atthe armoured body. Similar¬
ly, if a bare head or light (leather) cap are
worn, 20% of blows will be at the AC10
head.

Each pantheon has its own internal
rules, which are listed at the start of the
pantheon. The player character clerics
should know these rules and observe
them. Below are a few additional vari¬
ations for servants of individual deities.

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Celtic Mythos

Arawn: No raise dead spells are grant¬
ed, but slay living is fourth level.

Brigit: Resist fire is first level, resist
cold second, and flame strike does 6d10
damage.

Dianecht: No slay living or cause
wounds, but healing and curing spells are
a level lower (except cure light wounds).
They never fight except in self-defence.

Manannan Mac Lir: Third level spell
water breathing.

Morrigan: Weapon - spear. Clerics
must carry two at all times, one red¬
headed, one yellow-headed. They are not
permitted to carry 'spares'.

Oghma: Augury is first level, locate
object second, divination third, and
commune fourth.

Finnish Mythos

Nehwon Mythos

Ahto: Third level spell water breathing.

Kiputytto: Second level spell cause
disease (the cure is third level, as usual).
All clerics suffer from either leprosy or
'Kiputytto's Kiss', a variant of smallpox.

Loviatar: Weapon - ground glass dag¬
ger (representing her ice dagger, costing
lOgp from her temples or 20 from a
master glass-smith). This is more likely to
break than a normal dagger, and each hit
against AC5 or higher (or attempted hit
which hits AC10) requires a saving throw
for the blade of 10.

Mielikki: Those of her clerics with
sufficient wisdom and Charisma are
Neutral Good druids. Her normal clerics

use speak with animals as a first level
spell and animal friendship at second.

Surma: No raise dead, but slay living is
fourth level.

Tuoni: Seventh level spell underworld
— as astral spell except that the travellers
go to the Underworld.

Ukko: Weapon - longsword. This long-
sword can only be used when it is under a
flameblade spell (level 1, range 0, durat¬
ion 2-5 rounds plus one round per level,
components VSM, casting time 1 seg¬
ment, saving throw none; any longsword
used in the duration of the spell will act as
a flame tongue) or if it is a flame tongue.

Untamo: First level spell sleep.

Greek Mythos

Zeus: Third level spell monster sum¬
moning /, material component is the
cleric's blood running from a fresh wound
to the ground. This wound does 1-3
points of damage. The higher monster
summoning spells are also available, at
the same level as magic-user versions.

Aphrodite: First level spells friends,
charm person.

Ares: Weapon - spear.

Artemis: Weapon - short bow. In addit¬
ion, as a Hunting God, Artemis' clerics
are permitted to use the dagger for the
coup de grace.

Dionysis: Create water spells will
produce wine, purify water changes
water into wine.

Hades: Slay living is fourth level, but
raise dead still fifth.

Hecate: Clerics of Hecate must have

scores of 14+ in both intelligence and
wisdom. After training to second level
cleric, they become first level MUs with
the spells they had as first level clerics in
addition, and from then on they alternate
classes — MU1 (Cl); C2(MU1); MU2(C2);
etc. Weapon - dagger (this restriction also
applies when they are magic users).

Hephaestus: Weapon - hammer (horse¬
man's only).

Poseidon: Weapon - trident. These
clerics can ride horses, their create water
spell is second level and produces twice
as much water as usual, and raise water
is third level (lower water is still fourth,
create food third) and covers twice the
usual area.

Prometheus: First level spell produce
flame. Clerics of Prometheus must kill
griffons on sight.

Death: Slay living is a fourth level spell,
raise dead sixth (it mucks up his quota).

Kos: Weapon - longsword or battleaxe.
If the cleric has sufficient ability, long¬
sword and handaxe are used together.

Earth God: Weapon - poisoned blow-
guns. Sixth level spell earthquake.

Tyaa: Third level spell summon birds of
Tyaa (as monster summoning I).

Votishal: Clerics of Votishal must have
scores of 14+ in both wisdom and
dexterity. They alternate clerical levels
with those of thieves in a similar way to
the clerics of Hecate.

Non-Human Pantheon

Moradin: Weapon - horseman's ham¬
mer. Spiritual hammer is double duration.

Lolth: First level spell spider friendship
(as animal friendship).

Rillifane Rallathil: Second level spell
tree.

Maglubiyet: (shamans only) Weapon -
battleaxe.

Yondalla: Double duration protection
from evil spells, animate object is fifth
level.

Sekolah: Sekolah provides each of his
clerics with a shark. Great deeds will be
rewarded by the gift of a second shark.
Great clerics have been known to have up
to eight sharks in attendance. These
sharks are always of maximum hit points.

Norse Mythos

Aegir: Third level spell water breathing.

Balder: First level spell friends.

Forseti: Detect He is third level. They do
not get undetectable lie.

Frey: Weapon - ice-blue two-handed
sword. This weapon must be made of a
special alloy to give it the right colour and
thus costs 250gp. One will be supplied to
each first level cleric on credit by the
temple.

Hel: Cause disease is second level.

Idun: On reaching the rank of High I
Priest, a character is awarded one bite of |
an Apple of Youth.

Loki: Third level spell suggestion.

Magni: Second level spell strength.

Modi: Weapon - hammer. Double dur-1
ation spiritual hammer.

Sif: Weapon - longsword.

Thor: Weapon - hammer. Clerics of I
Thor have double duration spiritual
hammer spells, and their flame strike is |
actually a thunderbolt (lightning damage).

Uller: Weapon - longbow. As a hunting I
deity, Uller grants his clerics permission!
to use a dagger for the coup de grace.

Vidar: Double duration silence spells.

Sumerian Mythos

Enlil: Weapon - military pick.

Enki: Third level spell water breathing. |
Inanna: Weapon - shepherd's staff.
Nanna-sin: Weapon - obsidianl
battleaxe. m

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THE NECKLACE OF >*

by Phil Gallagher

Heruvor will be required, noting that it is some days travel from
any large settlement, and is surrounded by snow-capped
mountains. One possibility would be to alter the Background so
that Grilf actually journeys all the way to the City League in
search of aid, finally convincing one of the Temples within the
City to help him find adventurers to make the journey back to
Heruvor with him.

Ability Checks

Whenever the module indicates that a character must make a
strength, intelligence or dexterity check, the player must roll the
specified ability score or less on 1d20. The effects of a failed
check are described in each case.

If you plan to play in this mini-module, please stop reading
here. The rest of the information is for the Dungeon Master
(DM) only. Knowledge of the details of the adventure will
spoil the game for all concerned.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

INTRODUCTION

The Necklace of Lilith is a mini-module for the
ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. It is
suitable for a party of 5-8 Good-aligned clerics of levels
6-8, and has been designed to introduce the new clerical
spells detailed on page 32. If you wish to put a party of
mixed classes through the module, the party should
contain a cleric of level 7 or higher.

Details of the geographical setting have been left deliberately
vague, so that the DM can set the module within an existing
campaign. If the Pelinore campaign is being used, the DM
should note that Heruvor and the Western Realms are some
considerable distance SW of the City League, beyond the
County of Bereduth (as detailed in the IMAGINE Magazine
Special Edition). Some means of transporting the PCs to

THE NECKLACE OF LILITH
BACKGROUND

Extract from an entry in the Heraldic Journals of the western realms, as

made by Bardan Cemlock, Ipsissimus of the Order of Heralds.

'In ages past the land of Heruvor was known as the Blessed Realm, for
the people dwelt under the very gaze of the sky god Tarmenel. Great
was the god's love for the Heruvians, and with his hand-maiden
Lilith, he saw that they knew neither drought nor flood, plague nor
pestilence.

'It is common knowledge that when the world was made, the gods
foreswore direct interference in the ways of mortals lest rivalry and
jealousy lead to war and bitter strife. So it was that by his
guardianship of the Heruvians, Tarmenel incurred the wrath of all
the immortal ones, good and evil. One evil god, whom men call
Pharastus, had long nursed his hatred of the sky deity, and now his
mind's eye turned to the Mountains of Light surrounding the land of
Heruvor. The dwarves who dwelt there would make ideal, if
unwitting, tools for his evil designs.

'When the great dwarven priest Grymyk suddenly appeared amongst
them, the dwarves were filled with awe and wonder. Never before
had a dwarven cleric achieved such fame and power, and in their
greed and delight they put all suspicion aside. He it was who taught
them of 'the Great One', and like so many sheep they followed him
into the dark shadow of Pharastus.

'Then came the winter without a spring, when Pharastus, judging the
time was ripe, assailed Tarmenel on this very plane. All that is known
of that terrible conflict is the lightning that rent the heavens, while
the ground shook, rivers changed their courses or dried up altogether
and the fire-breathing Mount Strorm eviscerated the once fertile
plains of Heruvor. At length the sky god weakened and was forced to
flee the wrath of Pharastus.

'The ancient legends tell how Tarmenel, loth to abandon his people
altogether, somehow managed to leave instructions with Lilith, his
hand-maiden, whom some say was a demi-god herself. He gave her
a gem of purest sapphire which burnt with a strange energy, and
those that gazed at it seemed to see a white falcon — the symbol of
Tarmenel's love for his people. Thus, when the god fled into the void,
Lilith stayed behind, forbidden to interfere in the lives of the
Heruvians; save in direst need when she might use the gem to
summon Tarmenel back from wherever he might be...

'The years passed and slowly Lilith healedthe wounds ofthe land. Yet
now, the dwarves would have no dealings with man. Karyl, the
dwarven king, grew proud under Grymyk's influence. Gradually his
mind was poisoned by Grymyk's lies and he grew jealous of the
Heruvians' good fortune. In time his envy turned to anger and before
long, the forges and the smiths had no time for rest.

'Soon the once peaceful plains and forests of Heruvor rang with the
crash of steel and the cries of the wounded and dying. The followers
of Tarmenel were no match for the enraged warriors of Grymyk.
Fearing the destruction of both land and people, Cirrif, leader of the
Heruvians, sought out Lilith and begged her for aid. She was loth to
part with the stone that Tarmenel had given into her keeping, yet she
dared not make use of it herself and so, after much deliberation she
gave it (and three other magical gems) to Cirrif. With great reverence
he accepted the gem and, mounting it in a great amulet, made it the
centrepiece of a necklace of the finest gold.

'For a while the dwarven advance across the plains was halted, but
not so the insidious progress of Grymyk's poisonous lies, and shortly
the slaughter was resumed. In the depths of winter, the Battle of the
False Gods was fought by the gorge of the river Thunderflow. The
men of Heruvor were hardy, and with Cirrif bearing the Necklace,
they found new reserves of strength and courage. But the dwarven
armies were almost beyond number, and their warriors were crazed
with the lust for death which Grymyk had kindled in their hearts. As
the sun slowly westered on that bloody field, Cirrif stood atop a low
mound while his warriors fell around him. Believing the end was at
hand he held the great blue stone aloft and cried, "Tarmenel! Master
of the Skies! Harken to me; aid me in my hour of need!" And as his
shout rang out, the eyes of many of the dwarves were opened and
they knew the trickery that had been wrought on them by Grymyk
and Pharastus. These fled the field, fearing the wrath of Tarmenel,
who would surely come to aid his people.

'Butthe sun set. AndTarmenel did not come; for it was not Lilith that
summoned him... As the dark crept across the sky, Karyl leapt onto

Cirrif and slew him; yet even as he raised, the Necklace of Lilith aloft
in triumph, a blade of red steel pierced hiif armourfrom the rear, and
the Necklace was retrieved by Cirrif'sson. Butthe battle was already
lost. The remnants of the once proud, human army fled in terror,
leaving their iands to the frenzied victory dances of the dwarves.
Cirrif's son approached the mighty gorge and cast the Necklace
down, cursing Tarmenel and Lilith for the rape of his home and the
murder of his father. Then, in the blackness of his despair he cast
himself after it.

'Thus was the Necklace of Lilith lostto mortal man. But it issaidthat if
anyoneshouldfind itandcall upon Tarmenel, he will notfailtocome
a second time...'

Recent Events

Tarmenel has been unabletoreturntothe Prime Material Planeforfear
of an attack by Pharastus. The dwarves of the Mountains of Light have
declined and were long since abandoned by Grymyk, who now has his
lair in the heart of Mount Strorm to where the waters of the great river
washed the Necklace many years ago. However, a descendant of the
dwarven king Karyl, recently found his way into the heart of the
mountain, by following the gorge of the Thunderflow. Once inside, he
discovered the bitter truth of his family's past. For Grymyk is no dwarf,
but a cambion. Vile offspring of the accursed union between Pharastus
and his human high-priestess. With his ability to polymorph self
Grymyk was able to deceive the dwarves and corrupt their king. Grymyk
has been commanded by his master to guard the Necklace, for neither of
them dare even touch it — let alone attempt its destruction.

Unfortunately, the dwarf was captured and brought before the cambion,
now in his natural form. Grymyk cast a quest spell on his hapless victim
so that he must bring a good cleric to claim the Necklace. Grymyk knows
that Pharastus can only destroy Tarmenel on the'Prime Material Plane,
and for that to happen, Tarmenel has to be summoned...

The dwarf, named Grilf, made his way to the nearest city and declared to
the city's ancient assembly of good clerics that he had found the
Necklace. Wasting no time, they appointed a party of clerics,
representing all the good alignments. With Grilf as a guide, they are to
make their way to Mount Strorm and recover the Necklace.

Starting the Adventure

If this module is being run for a party of clerics, the characters will be
summoned by the High Priest of the city and given the Background
History of the Necklace of Lilith (above). If the players are running
characters of a mixture of classes, the DM will need to invent another
method of giving them the necessary information.

The day after Grilf's revelations, the ancient north wall of the clerics'
assembly chambers is mysteriously covered in a strange glowing script.
When deciphered, this turns out to be details of the following new
clerical spells explained elsewhere in this issue:

1st level: combine, portent
2nd level: death prayer

3rd level: dust devil, remove paralysis, water walking
4th level: meld into stone, negative plane protection

IMAGINE magazine! November 1934

THE NECKLACE OF LILITH

The clerics will be introduced to Grilf (see below) and before they set out,
they will be provided with any normal equipment they need. If asked, the
high-priest will provide each cleric with either a scroll with one spell of
the character's choice (levels 1 -4), or one of the following potions: extra
healing; fire resistance; invisibility; speed; water breathing.

Details of the Gods

The deities referred to throughout this module are Tarmenel — a Neutral
Good god of the sky — and Pharastus a Chaotic Evil lord of death. The
DM may replace these with appropriate deities for campaign purposes.

The Way In

Grilf the Dwarf

The player characters will be escorted by Grilf across the former plain of
Heruvor to the gorge of the river Thunderflow (area 1).

GRILF — DWARF, MALE, FIGHTER, LEVEL 6

S 18 49 , I 1 2, W 14, D 10, C 1 6, CH 7; AC 1 (plate mail +1 and shield);
MV 6"; F7; hp54;#AT3/2; D 4-10 (strength adjustment and battle-axe
+1); AL N; xp 91 5; THACO 12 (including strength and battle-axe +1).

Clothing/Protection: travel-stained cloak and hood over plate mail +1
and shield

Weapons: Battle-axe +1, hand-axe %

Personal treasure: a few copper pieces are all that the cambion left him.

Grilf is fiercely proud of his heritage, which makes him somewhat
difficult to get along with. It is virtually impossible to earn his respect,
short of destroying Grymyk the cambion, or saving the dwarf's life.

Grilf's story — that he found his way into Mount Strorm by chance, and
then managed to escape through a secret way unknown to the cambion
— does not really hold water. This will become more and more obvious
as the adventure proceeds, especially since he cannot direct the clerics
any further than the chamber with the dretch (area 5).

Grilf will not reveal the fact that Grymyk is a cambion. He will only talk of
'the dwarven cleric who turned my people to evil and now lives beyond
his natural span of years'. He will offer his services as a guide in return
for aid in slaying the 'evil priest'. He has no interest in the Necklace, but
will demand an equal share in any other treasure.

If the party question Grilf closely they will soon realise that he is not
telling the whole truth. Attempts to charm him while he is subject to the
cambion's quest will be unsuccessful. If the clerics are having difficulty
getting through the Room of Many Ways (area 10), and question the
dwarf, he will feign bafflement. According to his story, this system of
rooms posed no problems on his last visit.

Although quested, Grilf is not stupid and will be as subtle as possible in
his attempts to lead all but one of the clerics to destruction. For example:
he will bring up the rear as the party movesalong the gorgeand will not
warn them aboutthe spectre (area 1). He will claim thatthe side passage
leading to the water trap (area 4) is the right way to go and will 'wait on
guard' outside the room while the adventurers try to open the steel
hatch (should the party escape he will fake shock and dismay, apologise
profusely and mutter something about 'evil magic'). He knows that the
Bridge of Fire (area 8) is trapped but will insist that it is perfectly safe.
Finally, if there is more than one cleric left alive by the time the party
solves the problem of the Room of Many Ways, he will go berserk and
attempt to kill all but one.

Fixed Encounters

1. The Gorge.

To gain entrance to the cambion's stronghold, the clerics must descend
to the path which runs along the northern wall of the gorge of the river
Thunderflow. Below the path, the gorge is 150 feet deep and the walls
sheer, smooth and slippery (see DMG pi 9). The river is very deep and
fast flowing. Anyone falling into it will take 6d6 hit points of falling and
drowning damage. Unless roped, anyone who falls into the river at this
point will be swept downstream and into the Guarded Cavern (area 2).
At this point, a successful dexterity check means that the character
grabs onto a protruding rock on the eastern wall of the gorge. He or she
will be able to cling there until the rest of the party arrive to pull the
unfortunate victim to safety. If the dexterity check is unsuccessful then
the character will be swept into the underground lake and onto its rocky
shore (see area 6).

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

The path is also the haunt of the spectre of Karyl (see Background)
whose blind obedience to Grymyk and cruel slaughter of the Heruvians,
hascondemned himto hauntthesecavernsfor all eternity. If theclerics
are foolish enough to enter at night, the spectre will attack them outside
the tunnel entrance. Anyone hit must make a successful dexterity check
or fall into the river (see above). During the day, the spectre attacks
anyone entering the tunnel which leads to the Guarded Cavern (area 2).

Karyl — dwarven spectre: AC 2; MV 1 5"/30"; HD 7+3; hp 35; #AT 1;
D 1 -8 + energy drain; AL LE; xp 2000; THACO 13; MM.

The party can avoid a combat with the spectre by making Grilf lead the
way, although the dwarf will be reluctanttodothis(see Grilf the Dwarf
— above). Karyl will not attack anyone accompanied by a dwarf from the
Mountains of Light who can prove his lineage. Thus did Grilf get past the
spectre when he first came this way.

Mount Strorm

All passages under the volcano are natural in origin and consequently
very uneven. The width varies between 5 and 10 feet and the height
between 6 and 20 feet. Every 30 feet of passage there is a 25% chance of
1d4 natural fissures leading off to either side. These will be wide enough
to accommodate 1 man-sized figure and will taper out after 30feet or so.
The DM may wish to encourage the players to take refuge in these
fissures from time to time... They offer no protection from the undead
(see area 3).

All caverns are also natural, unless otherwise stated. The ceiling height
varies between 15 and 30 feet.

2. Guarded Cavern

This large natural cavern has evidently been worked and expanded —
the floor and walls are relatively smooth. The whole area is filled with
the rushing noise of the river. The river hurtles through a 30-foot-wide
channel which bisects the chamber. This channel is 100 foot deep with
sheer, smooth, slippery sides and is only crossable via a 5-foot-wide
arching stone bridge. Anyone falling into the river will take 6d6 hit
points of damage and be swept into the underground lake (see 6). 3
gargoyles watch both entrances to the chamber from the middle of the
bridge. They will attack anyone stepping onto the bridge.

3 gargoyles: AC 5; MV 9"/15"; HD 4+4; hp 24 each; #AT 4; D 1-3/
1-3/1-6/1-4; SD +1 or better weapon to hit; Int Low; AL CE; xp 285
each; THACO 15; MM.

The keystone of the bridge is trapped with a glyph of warding (at the 9th
level of spell use) which will be activated as soon as anyone steps on it.
The glyph causes this central 5-foot-square block of stone to shatter —
dropping anyone stood on it into the torrent. Victims may make a
dexterity check to see if they manage to grab the far edge of the bridge,
followed by a strength check to see if they haul themselves up. Failing
the dexterity check means that they fall into the torrent. Failing the
strength check means that characters have not got a secure hold and
will fall into the river in d4+1 rounds unless given suitable assistance.

3. Gates to the Negative Material Plane.

As soon as the party enters the cavern a group of four ghouls will
materialise in the centre of the room and attack. The muffled beating of
drums (from area 5) can be heard in this cavern.

There are two caves numbered 3 (3a and 3b) and both function in the
same way. In both of these rough, natural caverns, Grymyk has created
a gate to the Negative Material Plane. These will be activated as soon as
the party enters either room, and once every subsequent turn until
either the party or the cambion is destroyed. Each time the gates are
activated, a new group of undead will arrive in each chamber. The
groups will appear in the order shown overleaf, starting with the ghouls.

Once they have passed through the gate, the undead will track the
clerics' emanations of good for 1 hour and attack on sight. After 1 hour,
or when destroyed, they will return to the Negative Material Plane.

There is no physical evidence of the gates' presence, although both
areas will detect strongly for evil. If the clerics cast a combine spell (and
for the purposes of this adventure they need not all be of the same
alignment) followed by a prayer spell, the gate will be completely
destroyed. A death prayer spell will close the gate for 1 turn.

The groups of undead will come through the gate in the shown order.
When all the groups have been destroyed/evaded, the DM should start
again with group 1 .

THE NECKLACE OF LILITH

Group 1 — 4 Ghouls: AC 6; MV 9"; HD 2; hp 9 each; #AT 3; D 1 -3/1 -3/
1 -6; AL CE; xp 83 each; THACO 16; MM.

Group 2-1-3 Ghasts: AC 4; MV 15"; HD 4; hp 21 each; #AT 3;
D 1 -4/1 -4/1 -8; AL CE; xp 274 each; THACO 15; MM.

Group 3-1-2 Wights: AC 5; MV 12"; HD 4+3; hp 25 each; #AT 1; D 1 -4
+ energy drain; SD silver or magical weapons to hit; ALLE; xp 665 each;
THACO 15; MM.

Group 4 — 1 Wraith: AC 4; MV 1 2"/24"; HD 5+3; hp 30; #AT 1; D 1 -6 +
energy drain; SD silver or magical weapons to hit; AL LE; xp 755;
THACO 15; MM.

Group 5-1-6 Huecuva (polymorphed into giant rats): AC 3; MV 9";

HD 2; hp 10 each; #AT 1; D 1 -6; SA Disease; SD Need magical weapons
to hit; Int Semi; AL CE; xp 83 each; THACO 16; FF.

Group 6-1-2 Sons of Kyuss: AC 10; MV 9"; HD 4; hp 20 each; #AT 1;
D 1 -8; SAfear 15' radius, disease, worms; SD Regenerate 2 hp/round;
Int Low; AL CE; xp 295 each; THACO 15; FF.

There are two empty torch brackets in the positions shown. If the one
nearer the secret door is pulled, the door will slide open. Since the room
(area 4) at the end of the passage beyond the door is a decoy and trap, the
door has been designed to be found easily. If anyone (not just elves or
half-elves) checks the walls the door will be found automatically.

4. Water Trap

The passage to this room slopes steeply downwards. The wooden door is
locked and trapped by a glyph of warding at the 9th level of spell use.
The trap is activated as soon as the door is opened and will cause 18 hit
points of fire damage to anyone within 10 feet of the door (damage is
halved by a successful saving throw vs. Spells).

The room is empty except for a 3-foot-square steel hatch on the western
wall with five levers underneath. The stone walls, floor and ceiling of the
room are all damp and the hatch is rusting which should serve as a clue
to the nature of the room. To open the small steel hatch the levers must
be pulled in the order 1,3, 5, 2, 4 or else the trap will be sprung.

First, a heavy steel shutter will slide down to cover the entrance in 1
round. There is a shallow groove in the walls around the entrance
(noticed as a secret door or by a find traps spell, for example) where the
shutter drops down.

Second, a 1 -foot-square section of wall in the top right hand corner of
the northern wall will slide open. This is a small duct leading to the
underground lake. Once open, the water will flood the room in 2 turns.
The steel shutter can be smashed open (requires 200 hp of damage) or
raised by a combined strength score of 36 or greater. It fits so smoothly
into its concealed hole, however, that it will not be possible to raise it if it
is at all damaged.

A find traps spell will reveal the fact that the room is magically trapped,
but the caster must make a successful intelligence check (at -2) to
determine the correct order in which to pull the levers.

Behind the hatch is a 3-foot-square, 2-foot-deep cavity containing a
golden necklace bearing three diamonds (one in a very elaborate setting)
worth a total of 7500gp. When worn, the necklace acts as a ring of fire
resistance. There are also 2 bottles containing potions of undead
control and speed.

5. Demon Drummers

Ever since the incursion by Michledonne the paladin (see area 10i),
Grymyk has stationed two dretch here as guards. Strange unnatural
rhythms echo down the hallway from this chamber. Amidst stark rock
walls two dretch beat on kettle drums while a vrock (type 1 demon)
dances manically around the room. The demons are so engrossed in
their drumming and dancing that they will be surprised on a roll of 1 -4.
Once aware of the party's presence the vrock will fly over and attack one
character with all 5 of its attacks. If attacked by another character it will
turn on him or her, in subsequent rounds it will choose its targets
randomly. Itwill not attempt to gate in another demon and will continue
to fight until killed.

1 vrock (type 1 demon): AC 0; MV 12"/18"; HD 8; hp 32; #AT 5;
D 1 -4/1 -4/1 -8/1 -8/1 -6; SA Darkness 5' radius, telekinese 2,000gp
weight; SD Detect invisible objects; MR 50%; Int Low; AL CE; xp 1595;
THACO 12; MM.

One of the dretch will teleport behind a cleric and then use its scare
ability on the character. The other will create a stinking cloud to cover
as many characters as possible. It will then use its scare ability. On the

following rounds the dretch will attack with their claws and teeth. If
reduced to 8 hp or less they will attempt to flee towards area 3b. They
have both used their gate ability to bring the vrock to this chamber.

2 dretch: AC 2; MV 9"; HD 4; hp 18 each; #AT 3; D 1-4/1-4/2-5;
SA Darkness 5' radius, stinking cloud, scare, telekinese 500gp weight
andteleport; SD Nil; MR 30%; Int Semi; ALCE; xp 247 each;THACO 15;
MMII.

The chamber holds nothing of value other than the two engraved kettle
drums. These are of dwarven construction and made of gold with dragon
hide stretched across them (value — 2500gp each). The engravings
show the dwarven cleric Grymyk holding a religious ceremony in front of
a host of dwarves. In the background numerous demonic shapes are
depicted. The drums have a permanent Nystul's magic aura spell cast
upon them and any detect magic spells will show them to be magical.
They have no other special properties.

6. Underground Lake

This vast underground lake was formed by the river Thunderflow
flooding a natural cavern under Mount Strorm. Dark, silent and cold, it is
an eerie place. The water, however, is clean and fresh.

There are two ways that the party could find themselves here.
Characters may either be swept here after falling into the river (see
areas 1 and 2), areas 1 aor they may enterthrough the lair of the marine
trolls (see area 7). In the first case, the character will be washed up on
the lake shore. Since the river current is so strong, and the roof over the
river so low, it is not possible to use a water walk spell to return to the
Guarded Cavern (area 2), although any character wearing magical or
non-metal armour may swim that way. In this case, the character will
need a water breathing spell or device.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

THE NECKLACE OF LILITH

In the second case, the tunnel leading to and from the marine trolls' lair
is itself under water, andanycharacterwantingtogothis way will need
a water breathing spell or device.

7. Aquatic Trolls

The passage from area 3b slopes steeply downwards. After 40 feet it
starts to get damp, with water dripping from the ceiling and seeping
through the slime-covered walls. The tunnel ends where a rough, 3-
foot-diameter fissure leads downwards. The characters will experience
no difficulty in climbing down this fissure, but after 50 feet it is flooded
and characters wishing to continue will need a water breathing spell or
device. The fissure leads downwards for a further 20 feet before
levelling out into a rough tunnel, at the end of which is a natural cave
where two marine trolls have their lair. Bright lights or other
disturbances will bring them to investigate. They will attack on sight.

2 marine trolls: AC 3; MV 3"//15"; HD 5+5; hp 32 each; #AT 3;
D 2-5/2-5/3-12; SA/SD Regenerate 3 hp/round while under water;
AL CE; xp 656 each; THACO 15; MMII.

Hidden under a large rock covered by a clump of water weed is the trolls'
treasure: a mace +1, +3 vs. undead, and a sack containing 5000gp.

A short, flooded tunnel leads to the underground lake (area 6).

8. Passage of Fire

A stone bridge crosses a 30-wide chasm. A hundred foot below, red lava
shifts and bubbles, sending puffs of sulphurous vapours into the air.
Suspended from the ceiling 20-foot above, is a brass chain which hangs
down to within six-inches of the centre of the bridge. In the passage on
the far side of the bridge a lever can be seen on the eastern wall.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

The bridge is trapped. When the first rank of the party steps onto the
bridge the southern side will swing quickly downwards, pivoting on the
far side. Characters will be able to catch the hold of the brass chain and
swing themselves across to the far side. Otherwise they will fall into the
lava below, taking 10d6 falling damage and, unless they have a means
of protection against fire, 10 hit points of damage per round from the
molten lava.

Pulling the chain causes a bell to ring, summoning the rutterkin in area
9. A silence spell cast at the top of the chain will still the bell, allowing
the party to passthrough area 9 without encountering the rutterkin. The
bell is clearly visible if anyone looks upwards from the edge of the bridge
with a suitable light source.

Pulling on the chain also opens a stone trap-door in the ceiling which
leads to a lava vent. One round later blobs of molten lava will fall through
this trap-door into the chasm. Anyone passing over the bridge will take
2d6 hit points of damage per round from the molten lava. A find traps
spell cast in the vicinity of the bridge will reveal the trapped natures of
the bridge and chain.

Once across the chasm the lever can either be pulled or pushed. Pulling
the lever downwards activates a glyph of warding (at the 9th level of
spell use), make a save vs. Spells or be paralysed for 2-8 turns. Pushing
the lever upwards raises the bridge and closes the trap-door allowing
safe passage over the chasm.

9. Flying Fiend

Providing the characters cast a silence spell on the chain in encounter
area 8 this room will be unoccupied. If not, and if the chain has been
pulled, a rutterkin will be hovering abovetheentrancetothiscavern. As
soon asthe first character entersthe chamber it will attackwith itssnap

THE NECKLACE OF LILITH

tongs. These cause 2-8 hit points of damage when they hit and continue
to inflict 2-8 points of damage per round until removed. A character
trapped in the tongs becomes free after spending 1 round trying to
escape and rolling a successful to hit roll against AC1. A character can
make one escape attempt per round. Once the rutterkin has grasped a
character with the tongs it will attack with its two clubbed fists, causing
fear on any successful attack. Characters struck by its fists must make a
saving throw vs. Spells or flee for 5 turns.

1 rutterkin: AC 1 ; MV 1 2" ;HD 5+1 ; hp 30; #AT 1 snap tongs or 2 fists;
D 2-8 or 2-7 /2-7; SA/SD Darkness 5-foot radius, fear by touch, fly,
telekinese 1 0OOgp weight, teleport once per day; MR 40%; Int Ave; AL
CE; xp 605; THACO 15; MMII.

The rutterkin will not attempt to gate in a chasme and will teleport away
if reduced to 10 or less hit points.

10. Room of Many Ways

This room was created by Pharastus when the Necklace was first found,
and is meant to prevent anyone other than those of Chaotic Evil
alignment getting past this point.

The room is a perfect octagon in plan, with dazzling white walls and a
plain white domed ceiling. In the centre of each wall is a black wooden
door reached via three stone steps. The doors are all identical and are so
constructed that they must be spiked or wedged to keep them open. The
floor is of a highly-polished black material resembling marble and the
entire area radiates a strong magical aura.

When the party first opensthe southernmost door a well-oiled portcullis
will silently drop down behind them at the point shown on the map.
Unless someone has remained on the same stretch of corridor as the
portcullis the party will be unaware of this event. The portcullis is
described in section 5 below. As soon as anyone crosses the threshold
an unearthly voice booms out: 'If you cannot hide what you are, you
must either come and acknowledge your master or remain in this, your
tomb!' This is a clue both to the nature of the place and to how it may be
circumvented (see below).

The eight passages leading to this room are labelled a-h on the map.
These labels also apply to the rooms at the end of each passage (if any).

The Floor

The first lawful good character to step onto or otherwise touch the black,
marble floor must make a successful save vs. Spells or be sent through a
dimension door to room'd' (see section 1 below) wherethey will remain
in temporal stasis (as the spell) until released.

The Doors

The results of leaving the room through any door depend on the
alignment of the character(s) concerned. No matter what exit is taken, as
soon as the character turns the corner in the passage, he or she will
unwittingly travel through a dimension door to the passage associated
with his or her alignment (see below). Characters of different
alignments who are roped together will still end up in their appropriate
passages, and the rope will disintegrate. Characters will never be aware
of travelling through the various dimension doors, although they will
'see' anyone of a different alignment who accompanies them 'blink out'.

The only way for the party to get beyond this system of rooms or to
explore all the passages is the use of a conceal alignment spell. This will
allow them to avoid all the dimension doors, explore all the passages
safely and eventually reach room 'h' and Grymyk's inner sanctum
beyond.

If Grilf the dwarf is still with the party when the solution is found, he will
go berserk and attack the nearest character with the intention of killing
all butoneoftheclerics(seeGrilfthe Dwarf — page 27). He will fightto
the death, his reason gone, and will be unable to tell the clerics anything
even if they can restrain him.

1 . LG — Characters of this alignment end up in passage 'd', but facing
towards the central room. Thus, to reach room'd', a character mustturn
through 180 degrees after rounding the corner (of any passage) and
keep walking. Room 'd' has the same dazzlingly white walls as the
central room and is empty of furnishings. If anyone of Lawful Good
alignment ended up here through touching the floor of the central room,
the character will be found as though in a deep sleep, lying in the middle
of the room, next to a figure in plate mail who is also asleep. This is
Michledonne the Paladin. Once removed from the room, Michledonne
and any other characters will regain consciousness in 2-5 turns.

MICHLEDONNE — HUMAN, MALE, PALADIN, LEVEL 4
S 15, I 10, W 16, D 14, C 14, Ch 18; AC 1 (plate mail and shield +1);
MV 6"; P4; hp 27; #AT 1; D 2-9; SA/SD As standard for class, level and
abilities; AL LG; xp 225; THACO 1 8; PHB.

Clothing/Protection: White surcoat over very shiny plate mail, shield +1
Weapons: Long sword +1 , short bow (quiver with 12 arrows)

Personal treasure: lOgp, 1 potion of extra-healing, a silver holy symbol
(value — 75gp)

Michledonne has a very high opinion of himself. He will take an instant
dislike to Grilf (if he is still alive) and will 'solemnly swear to restore the
Necklace of Lilith to its rightful place' (ie on the altar of a temple of
Michledonne's faith). If the party should refuse to cast a conceal
alignment spell on Michledonne so that he can accompany them, the
DM should treat the paladin's long sword as being able to cast this spell
once per day!

2. NG — Neutral Good characters find themselves in passage 'e', but
facing away from the central room. Passage 'e' ends in a false, trapped
door. Anyone touching it will take 2-5 hit points of electrical damage (no
saving throw) and travel through another dimension door to end up in
the middle of the central room.

3. CG — Chaotic Good characters will always end up in passage 'f,
facing away from the central room. On entering room 'f' they will be
confronted by an illusion of the contents of room'd'. Thus they might
see, for example, their Lawful Good companion (who disappeared on
touching the floor in the central room) 'asleep' in the middle of the room.
The illusion will be dispelled if touched and the now empty room will
echo with eerie laughter.

4. CN — Chaotic Neutrals travel through a dimension door to passage
'g', but end up facing the central room. The passage is a dead-end.

5. NE - Neutral Evil characters will find themselves in passage 'a', facing
away from the central room. This is the passage from which the party
originally entered the central room. It is now blocked by a portcullis at
the point shown (see above). Anyone attempting to bend or lift the
portcullis has double the normal chance to bend bars/lift gates.
However, since all the edges of the portcullis are razor-sharp, a
successful dice roll means that the character takes 1-4 hit points of
damage, plus any strength bonuses of that character. The portcullis may
be lifted/bent safely by a character wearing gauntlets. It will take 150
hit points of damage before being destroyed.

6. LE — Lawful Evil characters go to passage 'b', but end up facing
towards the central room. The passage is a dead-end.

7. LN — Characters of this alignment end up in passage 'c'. As soon as
the door to room 'c' is opened a revolting stench of death and decay is
released. The room glows with an eerie green light and contains the
remains of several corpses in various stages of decomposition. Anyone
entering the room will be attacked by an apparition. A ghostly form takes
shape out of the nauseating carrion covering the floor and moves as if to
strangle whoever has entered the room.

1 apparition: AC 0; MV 24"; HD 8; hp 40; #AT see below; D see below;
SAsurprise on 1 -5; SD magical or silver weapons to hit; MR Std; Int Ave;
AL CE; xp 1400; THACO N/A; FF.

The victim of the apparition's attack must roll intelligence or less on 3d6.
Success indicates that the apparition's attack was ineffective and that
the character is immune to further attacks. A character who fails
becomes stricken with horror and must roll constitution or less on 3d6,
failure results in a heart seizure and immediate death. If a character
successfully resists this second attack, he or she will flee in terror for
1 -4 rounds during which time the apparition will again attempt to attack.
The apparition will not leave the room, if successfullyturned by a cleric it
will become ethereal and flee for the duration of the turning.

Amongst the debris on the floor is a footman's mace +2, a potion of
longevity (red with silvery-brown flecks, smells of pine and tastes of
vinegar), a jewelled holy symbol of a Lawful Neutral deity (value —

1500gp), two flasks of holy water, three hammers, a set of plate mail and
a shield +1 . The shield and the holy symbol bear the same device.

b. CE — Chaotic Evil characters always go to passage 'h' facing away
from the central room. The room at the end of the passage has walls
hung with black, velvet curtains embroidered in lurid colours depicting
various religious ceremonies of the cult of Pharastus. A low table,
draped with a black cloth, bears an ornate golden bowl (value —

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

THE NECKLACE OF LILITH

5000gp). The dark red liquid in the bowl glows with an infernal light and
illuminates the room. There is a large oaken door behind the curtain on
the eastern wall which bears a strange inscription.

Any character employing a detect evil spell in this room will discover
that it radiates a strong evil. The liquid in the bowl is blood. The script on
the concealed door can be translated by a successful intelligence check
and says "Grymyk welcomes the followers of Pharastus".

9. N — Whenever a true Neutral leaves through one of the doors, the
dimension door will take the character to one of the passages,
determined at random. The DM should roll d8 and consult one of
paragraphs above according to the number rolled.

11 . Grymyk's Inner Sanctum.

a. Ante Chamber After negotiating the Room of Many Ways (area 10)
the clerics will find themselves confronted by a pair of huge black stone
doors inlaid with many strange symbols and devices. The most
noticeable of these is illustrated below:

The clerics will instantly recognise
this as the symbol of Pharastus.
The doors are magical (see below)
but not trapped and^vill open at the
slightest push.

Inside, the room is lit only by seven black candles, set in a silver
candelabra (value — 2550gp) suspended from the ceiling. The candle
flames spit and hiss as they emit tendrils of sweet-smelling smoke
which twist and swirl ominously when the doors are opened. A black
marble pyramid stands in the middle of the room and on its flattened
apex sits a large spherical gem-stone whose colour seems to shimmer
and change with every passing moment. Beyond the pyramid is another
set of doors, identical to the first.

The smoke from the candles is poisonous. Every character must make a
saving throw vs. Poison for every turn spent inthis room, or lose 1 point
of strength. If the candles are extinguished then no further saving
throws are necessary, but lost strength can only be recovered 2-8 turns
after leaving the room.

The pyramid is 3-foot-high and bears a magical scrying device. Grymyk
the cambion wears a ring set with a stone similar to that on the pyramid.
By looking into this stone he is able to see all round the ante-chamber.
There is a 25% cumulative chance per turn that he will look into the
stone. In this case he will be suitably prepared (see below).

Only one set of doors may be open at any one time. Thus, the stone doors
leading intothetemple(area 11 b) cannot be opened until the doors into
the ante-chamber have been closed.

b. Temple to Pharastus The cavern is lit with an infernal glow from a
large pit in the middle of the floor, and by numerous spluttering torches.
But their flames only intensify the colour of the light, and make little
impression on the gloom. The whole area is oppressively hot;
sulphurous vapours hang heavy in the air and the ceiling is lost from
view. A great granite block, draped in a black cloth which bears the
symbol of Pharastus looms large on the far side of the pit. The cavern is
large, but the ranks of distorted statues set against the walls make it feel
claustrophobic. With hideous leers, the piercing eyes of these twisted
figures seem to follow anyone in the cavern. Every available surface is
covered in strange runes and sigils; some delicately inlaid in precious
metals, others rudely carved into the surface of the rock. A heavy chain
hangs from the ceiling over the pit and disappears from view into it.

The statues are carved from solidified lava and are both harmless and
worthless.

If Grymyk has seen the party through his scrying device he will be
hidden in the secret room behind the granite block. Otherwise he will be
seemingly deep in meditation, with his back tothe doors and he will not
move when the party enters. It is his intention to allow whoever Grilf
brings here (as a result of his quest spell) to use the Necklace of Lilith to
summon Tarmenel. He will then summon Pharastus to destroy the sky
god once and for all.

The Necklace of Lilith is in an unlocked casket attached tothe end of the
chain hanging down into the pit. This pit opens into a lava stream at the
bottom. A character falling into the pit will take 10d6hp of falling
damage and, unless the victim is protected against fire, a further lOhp of
damage per round from the lava. The casket is only 20 feet below the

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

edge of the pit, but since the pit is 25 feet in diameter, it will take at least
two characters to raise the chain and remove the casket. If Michledonne
is still with the party, he will do his utmostto stop anyone foolish enough
to want to use the Necklace here. He will insist on "despoiling this foul
place" and on seeking out the "evil creature responsible for such an
abomination". He will attack the cambion on sight.

When the clerics have recovered the Necklace, in an attempt to
encourage them to use it, the two mephits 'loaned' to Grymyk by his
master will fly out of the pit and attack. The lava mephit will swoop over
the party, using its breath weapon, while the fire mephit uses its heat
metal ability. Inthe next round, thefire mephit will breathe as itclosesto
melee, while the lava mephit attacks with its claws. If the mephits seem
to be losing, Grymyk will join in the combat, goading the characters the
whole time. He will cast slay living at the paladin, followed by
protection from good 10' radius and hold person.

1 fire mephit: AC 5; MV 1 2"/24"; HD 3+1; hp 1 6; #AT 2; D 2-4/2-4;
SA Breath weapon (2-9 or 4), heat metal, magic missile, gate; Int Ave;
ALCE; xp 214; THACO 16; FF.

1 lava mephit: AC 6; MV 12"/24"; HD 3; hp 14; #AT 2; D 2-9/2-9;
SA Breath weapon (1 -6), gate; Int Ave; AL CE; xp 147; THACO 1 6; FF.

GRYMYK — CLERIC/CAMBlON, MALE, LEVEL 9
AC 0; MV 1 2"\ C9; hp 50; #AT 3/2; D 7-12 (mace +2); SA cause fear,
detect magic, polymorph self, attack as F9, clerical spells;
SD Infravision, clerical spells; MR 25%; AL CE; S 18(10), I 13, W 14,
D 1 6, C 1 5, Ch 8; xp 5159; THACO 9; MMII/PHB.

Clothing: black and scarlet silk robes
Weapons: footman's mace +2

Spells memorised: First level — command (x2); detect good; cure light
wounds; darkness

Second level — hold person (x2); resist fire; silence
Third level —animate dead; dust devil; dispel magic
Fourth level — protection from good 10' radius; sticks to snakes
Fifth level — slay living

Personal treasure: scrying ring (value — 1750gp). Only Grymyk can use
this.

The concealed door behind the granite block will be found automatically
once Grymyk has been killed. The room beyond it contains a silver casket
containing 10 x 5,000gp gems.

Using the Necklace

The Necklace of Lilith is made of engraved gold, set with many glittering
gems. A gold and silver amulet is suspended from the centre and in it is
set a dazzling sapphire. Anyone staring into this sapphire will see the
image of a white falcon deep within. Anyone of an Evil alignment will
take 3-30hp of damage from touching the stone. The Necklace is a
mighty artifact, and the DM should be extremely wary of allowing the
party to keep the central stone. There are three other magical gems,
however, and their properties are detailed below:

a) gem of atonement (diamond) — allows the bearer to cast this 5th
level clerical spell once per day.

b) gem of curing (ruby) — allows the bearer to cure either blindness,
disease, or serious wounds once per day.

c) gem of karma (emerald) — allows the bearer to cast one spell as if four
levels higher (with respect to range, duration, etc) once per day.

Pharastus has the power to destroy both the party and Tarmenel, should
the latter come to the Prime Negative Plane. It is therefore suggested
that attempts to use the Necklace while Grymyk lives should be
unsuccessful. Moreover, once the cambion has been destroyed,
Michledonne (if still alive) will insist that the Necklace be taken back to
the assembly of clerics (see Background — page 26) and will attack any
cleric attempting to summon the Sky God. Once these minor problems
have been overcome, Tarmenel can be summoned automatically by any
cleric of Neutral Good alignment who invokes the deity's name while
wearing the Necklace beneath the open sky. The DM may use his
discretion as to what reward, if any, the Sky God sees fit to give the
clerics, but he should demand the return of the Necklace, and grant
them one wish or one seventh level clerical spell in exchange.

Credits

Author: Phil Gallagher

Art: Brian Williams; Cartography Paul Ruiz
Thanks to Jim Bambra and Huw Jones.

New Clerical Spells

by Gary Gygax and Len Lakofka

The following official clerical spells
appeared first in DRAGON® magazine
#58, February 1982. They are presented
here in much compressed form.

Level

Duration

Range

Area of Effect

Components

Casting Time

Saving Throw

Ceremony

{Coming of Age)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, $, M

1 hour

None or neg

(Burial)

(Marriage)

Permanent

Touch

See description
See description

V, S, M

1 hour

None or neg
None or neg

Combine

See below

Touch

Circle of clerics

V, S

1 round

None

Magical Vestments
Portent

6 rounds/level
See below

Touch

OBiT

Figure touched

V, b, fVl

V, S, M

1 round

1 turn

None

or self

Ceremony

(Dedication)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, S. M

t hour

None or neg

(Investiture)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, S, M

1 hour

None or neg

(Consecrate Item)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, S, M

1 hour

None or neg

Death Prayer

Permanent

Touch

One corpse

V, S, M

1 turn

Neg

Detect Life

5 rounds

10ft/level

One creature

V. S, M

1 round

None

Ceremony

(Ordain)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, S, M

1 hour

None or neg

(Special Vows)

Dust Davit

Remove Paralysis

Permanent

1 round/level
Permanent

Touch

1 "/level

See description
Special

1 -4 creatures
in 2"/2" area

V, S, M

V, S

1 hour

3 rounds

6 segments

None or neg
None

Neg

Water Walking

1 turn/level

Touch

Creature touched

V, S

6 segments

None

Ceremony

(Consecrate Ground)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, S, M

f hour

None or neg

Meld Into Stone

8+d8 rounds

Touch

Special

V. S, M

7 segments

None

Negative Plane
Protection

t turn/level

Touch

1 Prime Material
creature

V, S, M

t round

None

Ceremony

(Anathematize)

Permanent

Touch

See description

V, S, M

1 hour

None or neg

DMs wishing to introduce the following
into their campaign, should do so with
some care. Spells like Ceremony or
Portent are of a type that should be
known by most clerics, and the DM may
wish to make them available to player
characters without the necessity for NPC
interaction. As a rough guide, the chance
for any cleric to know each of the follow¬
ing spells should be 7% x character level.

Spell Descriptions

Ceremony: The nine ceremony spells mark
particular blessings or curses used by indiv¬
idual churches. They are designed to place the
right 'aura' on the event or person, although
they are not, in themselves, magical. Coming
of Age prepares a young person for their
responsibilities in their church and society.
Burial provides no additional protection for the
deceased, but is said to invoke retribution
should the grave be disturbed in the week
following. Marriage places the correct aura
upon the joining of two people. Dedication is
necessary for an individual to perform specific
acts, like joining an organization. Investiture is
required to ordain a new Ist-level cleric.
Consecrate Item prepares items for placing
upon altars or in other important locations.
Holy symbols and vestments are covered by
separate spells, but the spell is necessary to
consecrate the containers for holy/unholy
water. Ordain is required when a cleric of any
level wishes to take on the responsibilities of
caring for a congregation, or similar duties.
Special Vows pertain to paladins, knights and
the solemn oaths of others. Consecrate
Ground prepares the way for a holy building to
be erected safely (otherwise there is a 1%
chance per year of its collapse) and prepares a
graveyard so that itturns undead as a 3rd level
cleric. Anathematize brands an excommun¬
icated offender with a sign denoting the
offence. An atonement spell can make this
onus fade, but it will never disappear.

Combine: Five clerics of the same alignment
may group together to perform an action at a
higher level of experience than any individual
cleric within the group holds. Four ring the
cleric with the highest level, and all cast
combine. If the circle remains unbroken, the
centre cleric may then cast an spell, or turn
undead, as if 1 -4 levels higher; each cleric in
the ring within four levels of the centre cleric
may contribute one extra level to the next
action. Obviously, the central cleric must have
remembered the spell to be able to cast it, as
normal. The spell is broken if anything distracts
the attention of any of the five.

Magical Vestments: This spell can trans¬
form the ordinary vestments of a cleric into the
equivalent of chain mail (AC5). No other form
of defence may be worn with it (armour, ring of
protection, etc), although for each four levels
of the cleric, the vestments become +1 for all
purposes, up to a maximum of +4. The
vestments are normally worn during church
ceremonies when armour may not be worn; it
is cancelled as soon as any protective spell (eg,
bless) is cast upon the cleric. It only works in
church and is immune to magic missiles.

Portent: The cleric can determine that a
character will suffer ill or good fortune at a

time in the future. This should be interpreted
as affecting a future to hit or saving throw. The
DM should decide if the portent is good or bad
(tossa coin!)and which roll will be affected (the
5th to hit roll involving the character, the 9th
saving throw, etc). The strength of the effect
should be a d4 addition/reduction to the roll.
Only the DM should know which the roll will
be: the idea is to make the character more
brave, or more cowardly, until the portent is
revealed.

Death Prayer: By sprinkling holy/unholy
water over a corpse killed by the undead, and
uttering the prayer, a cleric reduces the chance
that a body will arise as an undead itself.
Likewise, the spell offers protection against
the spell animate dead and also can block
speak with dead unlessthe contacting cleric is
of a higher level. The corpse is allowed a saving
throw against spells based on the level
reached in life, although not lower than 12.
Raise dead and resurrection spells operate at
a -25% penalty. Only limited wish or wish will
detect the existence of the protection, or
remove it.

Detect Life: A cleric can use this spell to tell
if a creature is dead or alive, detecting the
subject of a feign death spell, or revealing the
state of someone in a coma or death-like
trance. The spell's range will be reduced to
1'/level if just one inch of stone or wood
intervenes, and it is completely blocked by
metal, or a medallion vs ESP.

Holy Symbol: This spell blesses a new
holy symbol, which must naturally be some¬
thing appropriate to the deity.

Dust Devil: This spell conjures up a weak
air elemental, 2HD/AC4/Move 18"/no attack.
Magical weapons do double damage to this
which must remain within 3" of the cleric. A
small whirlwind is produced which can drive
away gaseous forms or clouds, put out small
fires, torches or lanterns, or whip up a blinding
cloud of dust, sand or ash 30 feet in diameter,
reducing those within to -3 on to hit rolls.

Remove Paralysis: This spell removes
paralysis before the effect would otherwise

expire, and cancels hold spells. All the victims
must be within the area of effect, and are
entitled to a new saving throw vs paralyzation.
That saving throw is +3 if one character is
within the area of effect, +2 if there are two,
and +1 if there are three or four targets. If the
new saving throw is failed, the duration of the
original paralysis doubles. Subsequent remove
paralysis spells cause 4-16 points of damage.

Water Walking: A character affected by
this spell may walk on water as if wearing a
ring of water walking. Up to 500 pounds over
the character's naked weight may be carried
without penalty; weights over 500lbs cause
the spell to fail after 2-5 minutes; weights over
750lbs cannot be carried.

Meld Into Stone: While holding a sample
of the stone, a cleric may use this spell to blend
into a block of stone large enough to accommo¬
date his or her body. The cleric may leave the
stone through the entered face at any time
before the spell expires. If still within the rock
at the end of the spell, the cleric will be
expelled taking 8d4 points of damage. All
carried items must save vs petrification or be
turned into stone. The following spells may
affect the cleric while within the stone. Stone
to flesh will expel the cleric for 8d4 damage;
dig will cause 8d8 damage and the cleric must
save vs death or die instantly; transmute rock
to mud kills the cleric instantly and perman¬
ently; stone shape will cause 4d4 damage.

Negative Plane Protection: A cleric
holding a holy symbol and casting this spell is
protected from negative plane undead. If
touched by negative plane undead, the recip¬
ient must save vs death; if the save is made,
normal damage is taken, but no energy drain
occurs. The creature itself takes 2d6 damage.
If the save is failed, the recipient takes double
physical damage, and the energy drain takes
place. All such negative/positive plane contact
causes a bright flash — which itself causes no
damage — and dispels the protection. Should a
cleric be foolish enough to cast the spell on the
negative plane, instant and irrevocable death
will follow. m

Are these spells as useful as the cantrips (#8 &
9)? Write to the letters page and tell us!

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

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Please mention IMAGINE magazine when reptyinq to advertisements

The Ga&oway War Plait DRAG ON QUEST

This weapon was used in the medieval
period in southern Scotland. It has a

Weapon

Max Rk

wooden handle up to 4' long, like the

Galloway Flail

agricultural flail, connected by a thong or

Pogomogon

chain to an iron striker jointed in two or

Protestant

+ 1

three places. It is reputed to have been

Swidgel

able to wrap around a man and crush his
chest even through his armour.

The Pogomogon

This is probably the earliest type of flail,
and was used by the Shoshone and
Chippewa Indians, among others, early in
the last century. It is thought that heavy
perforated and grooved stones found on
archaeological sites of the Neolithic
period (c 4000-2000 BC) in Britain and
Europe may have come from similar
weapons.

The pogomogon consists of a heavy
stone, either wrapped round with thongs
or sewn into a leather bag, which swings
from a wooden handle about 2' in length.

The Protestant FlmC

This is essentially a brawling weapon,
and was used in Britain in the 17th and
18th centuries; it got its most common
name through its use in religious disturb¬
ances in the late 1 7th century. It consists
of a handleof ash 1 2-18" long, commonly
fitted with a wrist-thong, from which
swung a 'swipple' of lead.

The Agricultural Flail or Swidgel

The everyday agricultural flail was used
as a weapon by peasants and poachers
virtually throughout the period of its use;
precise forms vary with time and place,
but a 4-5' handle and 2 1 / 2 -3' beater is
common.

The question of cost is left to the
individual GM, taking into
account such considerations as
rarity and materials.

TRAVELLER

Galloway Flail — As thrasher, range short +5, close -3, damage 3D+3
Pogomogon — As club, damage 2D+1

Protestant — Close range only (+3), damage 2D; if modified dice roll is 10+,
target is knocked out.

Swidgel — As thrasher, damage 2D, range close -2, short +3

BASIC ROLE PLAYING

Weapon

BA/P

DAM

BP Notes

Galloway Flail

05%

2D6+2

Pogomogon

20%

1 D6+2

Protestant

25%

1D4+2

20 KO on Impale result

Swidgel

15%

1 D6+2

TUNNELS & TROLLS

Weapon

Dice + Adds

Notes

Galloway Flail

5+2

200

Pogomogon

Protestant

CON ST at V 4 attacker's level or KO

Swidgel

2+4

BUSHIDO

Weapon

Min STR

Range

Dam

Wt(lb)

Notes

Galloway Flail

L/M

2D6+3

Pogomogon

D4+2

Protestant

D3+2

See below

Swidgel

D6+1

Notes: A Protestant flail adds +3 to subdual attacks; optionally a Ninja character may make
a Ninjutsu BCS to knock out a victim silently and indetectably.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

Damage AC Adjustments

Weapon

Weight

Length

Space

S/M

7 6

Galloway Flail

200

6-7'

12'

2-12

2-8

Pogomogon

2Y 2 '

2-5

1-4

+ 1

-1

-2

-3

Protestant

1V 2 '

1-3

1-2

-2

-1

-2

-3

-4

Swidgel

6-7'

12'

2-8

1-4

+ 1

-1

-2

-3

A Protestant Flail gives a +25% bonus to subdual attacks, and may be used by an Assassin
character to knock out a victim at the same probability as for a normal assassination.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

Looking For An Edge

by Carl Sargent

This article is going to examine the
impact that just one of the rules of
the D&D® game — in both Basic
and Advanced — has had. This rule
concerns clerics and the prohibition
of edged weapons. It is just a very
small part of the game, but it has a
radical effect on the way the cleric
is played.

In most D&D campaigns, the combat role
of the cleric is to act as a second-line
fighter. Their ability to wear metal armour
and their fairly favourable combat results
make them ideally suited to step into
those melee situations where thefighters
need help. Their effectiveness in combat
suffers from one critical disadvantage,
however, that while the fighters are
hacking away with their d8 swords, the
clerics use their maces or staffs for d6
damage. Despite all the complications of
different armour classes, weapons and
sizes of opponents in the Advanced game,
the principle there remains the same —

swords do more damage than blunt
weapons. This is true even before we
consider the much greater likelihood of
finding a magical sword.

Of course, there is the point that if
clerics were able to use swords, would
there be any point in playing a fighter?
Certainly fighters have more hit points,
and their 'to hit' rolls progress faster; in
Advanced they alone can gain the extra
hit point bonuses from Constitution
scores of 17 and 18, and have exceptional
strength if the ability is score is 18. But
does this really offset the cleric's use of
spells (notably the healing powers which
far outweigh the meagre difference in hit
points), the turning abilities and the
superior saving throws? In the D&D
system, a sword-wielding priest would be
greatly superior to a fighter, and I suspect
most players of the Advanced game
would think this was equally true unless
an 18 Strength or Constitution had been
rolled.

This 'imbalance' probably accounts for
the existence of the edged weapons rule,
ratherthan any original conception of the
cleric as a non-sword wielder. But both
the systems then developed 'logical'
reasons for the prohibition. The D&D
Basic Rules tell us that 'religious codes'
prohibit the use of edged weapons, while
the AD&D game specifically says that it is
the shedding of blood that is abhorrent to
the cleric. In part, this may be symbolic;
even evil and chaotic clerics might only
spill blood in the context of a sacrifice to
their deity, and the haphazard shedding
of blood in combat would not be agreeable
to them. This is a neat point which gets
around the psychological implausibility of

evil or chaotic clerics disliking the shed¬
ding blood perse, and could be developed
by linking the shedding of blood to the
power that clerics tap during powerful
rites — they would then be very cautious
about doing so except under suitably
controlled conditions.

However, there are flaws in this line of
argument. Firstly, scrutiny of good, solid,
studded maces suggests that a sound
whack round the head is very likely to
shed quite a lot of blood. Secondly, it
becomes clear from the study of history
that warrior clerics have existed in many
cultures at many times. There hasalways
been a suggestion that the D&D game is
based upon a narrow view of medieval
Europe, and that the cleric suffers on this
account. As soon as the game is taken
further than this, the deficiencies of the
edged weapons rule become more appar¬
ent. Consider a few more problems.

In the AD&D system, the existence of
split-class and multi-class characters
ensures the existence of fighter-clerics,
and even half-ore cleric-assassins! If the
narrow view of the cleric is taken, then
neither of these 'characters' is possible;
they are both capable of killing in any
manner for monetary gain on the one
hand, yet have a religious prohibition or
'righteous' abhorrence against casual
execution on the other. These classes can
only exist if one takes a different view of
the clerical part of the character. For
example, a sect which believed in the
elimination of non-believers might well
have cleric-assassins, poison dripping
from their knife blades....

Even so, it might be possibletotwistthe
logic so that the edged weapons rule still
made some little sense in this context.
But another problem from the Advanced
game seems more insoluble. The deities
of Greyhawk, or the DEITIES AND DEMI¬
GODS® Cyclopedia, throw up a number of
examples of gods who would be unlikely
to prohibit their followers from using
edged weapons. Take two recent exam-

IMAGINE magazine, November 1 984

pies from the pages of DRAGON®
magazine. It specifically states that the
followers of Heironeus are 'especially
war I ike'and one could guess that many of
their temples are decorated with pictures
of Heironeus triumphant in battle —
complete with his magnificent battle-axe
+4 (November 1982). In the December
1982 issue there is an even better
example. The lesser god Trithereon the
summoner, a CG deity, has the role of
protecting liberty and exacting retribution
from oppressors. Because of this 'those
(clerics) of 4th and higher levels are
permitted the use of spears, and at 8th
and higher levelsclerics of Trithereon can
employ broadswords.' Since this was
penned by the man who designed the
game in the first place, I think it fairly
settles the issue.

It seems, therefore, that the edged
weapons prohibition is pretty hard to
justify for those campaigns where clerics
serve deities who, themselves, would be
unlikely to insist upon it. On the other
hand, there are some sound reasons for
the mace and staff having a special
importance for clerics. They do not just
fight, after all. A cleric has to tend to the
faithful, punish those who have fallen
from favour, and convert the misguided.
Since the class does not lend itself
towards the true clerical servant, as
opposed to the warrior-priest, players
tend to overlook these points. The staff
could be seen as a symbol of the link with
the divine; the mace as a symbol of the
special purpose of the cleric. In the
Advanced game, the flail is an excellent
instrument for chastising the unbeliever.
One might well argue that clerics, in their
initial training, would certainly specialize
in the use of such weapons.

Given this, a cleric could not turn to the
use of a sword in battle in the blink of an
eye. Training in weapons is presumably a
long business, though neither rules
system explicitly says how long it takes.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

However, given that a cleric in the
Advanced game starts with proficiency in
the use of two weapons, and can only
develop proficiency in one more at the 5th
level, it must be quite slow.

Further, since the cleric has gained
initial experience in the use of the mace,
staff or flail (or warhammer, or club —
although the latter doesn't fit the sym¬
bolic-value role too well), suddenly
switching to the use of a sword is
dubious. Most swords require a different
touch from the crashing blow of the blunt
instrument, and skilful use of them only
comes to the fighter through extensive
training. The cleric has much else to do
between adventures; tending to the flock,
collecting funds to repair the church roof,
thanking the protecting deity after a
success, atoning for failure, maybe trans¬
lating religious texts, studying, training
acolytes. So the cleric will not be able to
select an edged weapon on practical
grounds, rather than on religious or moral
ones.

However, a member of a fighting order
might never engage in the kinds of
activity adhered to by his more peaceful
brother. In this case a restriction that
could be implemented without imposing
too much upon credulity is that such
clerics will only fight with the prescribed
weapon of their deity. Thus the follower
of Heironeous will happily fight with a
battleaxe instead of a mace, but in this
case will not gain additional weapon pro¬
ficiencies at all; only one weapon is
allowed by the deity. Even in the D&D
game, something similar can be substit¬
uted for the existing rules, whereby the
cleric may only ever fight with one kind of
weapon. Initially, armed with a sword
instead of a staff, the acolyte has some
advantage — but no matter how many
times a short sword +1 or two-handed
sword +2 becomes available, this dedicat¬
ed priest will never change from his
longsword. Imagine the irony when the
first mace +3 or snake staff appears!

If you retain a prohibition so that a cleric
can use only one weapon, there may be
occasions when even this comes under
pressure. Consider these examples:

An adventuring cleric is captured by
evil priests. He is kept in a cell, stripped of
armour and weapons, and starved. He
manages to escape (it doesn't matter
how, for the sake of this example). He
steals into a chamber where he sees a
bloodied, tottering evil cleric standing
over the bodies of the two paladins with
whom he had travelled (our hero is of
Lawful Good alignment). The cleric makes
a pass with his hand, muttering 'Now I
shall turn your very souls to evil.... anti¬
paladins shall you be!' Our hero quails;
the evil priest has hisbackturned, butthe
cleric has no spells, no weapons — and
very little time! The only thing he can see
which might save thetwo faithful paladins
is the Holy Avenger one of them has
dropped. What a dilemma! Can it really be
said that the cleric's religious codes
prohibit him from picking this up and
striking the evil priest with all his might?
Surely this is less evil than having two
powerful and utterly unblemished serv¬
ants of his god so horribly corrupted?

Maybe yes, maybe no. It is a very
extreme example, but then absolute
prohibitions can fairly be judged with
extreme case. This example shows up
what most of us believe to be true, that
morality and ethics are shades of grey
and not clear-cut, all-or-nothing affairs.

The second example comes from a
campaign I was playing in. A brush with
some poisonous spiders, and a series of
1 s on our d20s, left a party of nine without
any of their three fighters. The two clerics
duly raised them all and neutralized the
poison, but with the time pressure we
were under, there was no opportunity to
wait for them to recover. So, the six
remaining had two clerics upfront —and
the two magic swords +2 in the party's
possession were unusable to anyone in
the party. And how we needed the special
detection powers one of those swords
had! The DM ruled that the use of these
powers constituted use of an edged
weapon (an interesting problem on its
own). Anyway, my CN cleric, who, frankly,
would not have been worried by spilling
plenty of blood, had to sulk and make do
with her mace. Then we ran into the
monsters who could only be hit with
magical weapons.... The scenario inevit¬
ably suffered from the restriction, al¬
though we made it in the end.

In conclusion, while hit rolls and damage
penalties could be justified on pragmatic
grounds, surely it can't be argued that
every cleric, no matter whatalignment, or
the nature of his or her mission, is
absolutely and completely denied the use
of any edged weapon, even a magic one of
the same alignment. Put like this, the
prohibition seems very extreme; but
that's the way the rules stand.

Carl Sargent

The inspiration for this piece came from
the excellent dialogue between John
Sapienza and Bruce Humphrey in
DRAGON magazine, October 1982. CS

Raid on Rajallapor

Grenadier Models Inc are primarily a
manufacturer of excellent figures. They
are now producing material to use them
with. Raid on Rajallapor is 'Dogs of War'
style action for 4-6 players of the
Mercenaries Spies & Private Eyes game.
The equipment provided seems suitable
for 8 characters although 6 suggested
ones are included. Unlike other MSPE
scenarios it does not contain conversion
material for Espionage, but is hardly
compatible in any case. The setting is
North Western India and the team must
obtain certain itemsduring the operation.
In the build-up to the mission they are in
effect given an offer they cannot refuse.
Some players are far from enthusiastic at
being forced in such a manner. Clearly
there is always the danger they will resist
and ruin the scenario. For the actual
mission the 'meres' are well equipped;
they need the hardware.

As regards presentation, the illustrat¬
ions are adequate and the maps extens¬
ive. Noteworthy are the ground plan
interiors of the buildings on which figures
(by Grenadier?) may be placed. Another
interesting feature is the inclusion of a
solo scenario for the GM 'who never gets
a chance to play in the game he runs'.

Although I'm not a great
' / believer in the 'Do you take
her up on her offer? Go to
28' approach to gaming, it
was a nice idea which is
not mentioned on the
outside cover.
The scenario is well
produced but I have my
doubts about supernatural
intervention, a device
which also appears in Jade
Jaguar. Perhaps the
designers think this is an
original way of shaking the
players. But if it is
repeated, surely it loses its
impact? Alternatively it
could be a way to cash in
on the popularity of other
systems. Either way I
suspect the fictional
Shannon from the Dogs of
War or the real life 'Mad
Mike' Hoare would be far
from impressed.
J& Nick Davison

Disappearance on Aramat

Grenadier's Traveller scenario Disap¬
pearance on Aramat centres on a search
for a lost party of archaeologists on an
uninhabited world. The plot is more
complex than this of course; the players
are chased by a rival group and the secret
of Aramat must be discovered.

Disappearance is, however, a great
disappointment. Although the adventure
contains a fair amount of material, with
many NPCs and a sub-sector map, it also
has many flaws.

Firstly the presentation is shoddy. The
illustrations are poor and they seem to be
used merely to bulk out the booklet.
Further there seems to have been chaotic
editorial control. Information is repeated
verbatim for no apparent reason; for
instance there are two maps of Aramat,
one for players, one for the referee. No
information is withheld from the players
because the maps are identical. One

cannot readily remove the players' map.
Thus you may as well show them the
referee's map. Are the writers again
attempting to pack out the booklet?

Secondly the adventure does not easily
hold together. There is a massive contin¬
uity error halfway through. The players
are captured; they have little choice in
this as the force they encounter is far in
excess of their fire-power. Yet the players
are not held. One moment they are
captured, the next they are wandering
free. I see no logic in this — the players
cannot reasonably escape from their
predicament, yet according to the scen¬
ario they do.

As a resultthe module will need a lot of
work to make it playable. If this is any
indication of the quality of Grenadier's
role-playing scenarios, then I would ad¬
vise them to stick to figure manufacture.

Stephen Nutt

Miniature Barbarians and Dwarves

Asgard Miniatures have just released
another 25 figures from the sculpting tool
of Jeremy Goodwin. These latest ex¬
amples of his work are 13 Dwarves and
12 Barbarians, and nearly all are up to the
standard of the Ores that have been
produced over the last year or so.

The Dwarves are a splendid lot, well
proportioned, nicely cast, finely detailed
and in a good variety of useful poses.
Some of the figures have obviously been
designed with the tabletop wargames
market in mind, as they are straight¬
forward types in 'standard' poses — ideal
for a regimental size unit to go with, say,
the Warhammer rules — but even these
have lots of fine detail and could be used
ascharacterfigures. The real gems in the
range are the individuals, where the
designer has put personality into the
models.

The best in the range are the Scout (a
definitive dwarf thief), the Dwarf Lord in
full armour complete with rune-carved
sword and dragon helm, and the Black
Dwarf (is this a pun?), who looks thor¬
oughly disreputable with the eyepatch
and a sinister raven perched upon one

shoulder. The only one in the range which
is a disappointment is the Shieldmaiden,
which does not quite match the standard
of the rest. Overall, recommended.

The Barbarians are the best that
Jeremy Goodwin and Asgard have pro¬
duced so far. These are a range of
individuals, not stock figures, and all are
worth looking at if you are after a figure
which is a bit out of the ordinary.

It's difficult to pick out individual figures
in this range as being 'the best', as all
(except Haxxthe Ragged, a good resculpt¬
ing of Asgard's earlier Knight of Chaos)
show a great deal of imagination and
attention to detail — one of the figures is
even wearing checked trousers under his
armour, and another is armoured in a
magnificent sculpted boar's helm. All
show similar nice touches with war
feathers, battered helms, individual facial
expressions — Mad Rollo even has teeth
in the middle of his leer. These are a tour
de force of the figure manufacturers' art,
and I have to confess that they are not
easy to paint — but quality is its own
reward. Highly recommended.

j& Mike Brunton

Grenadier’ Latest

A Traveller Adventure Module 7C

DISAPPEARANCE ON
ARAMAT

Product information

The Grenadier modules Raid on Rajallapor
and Disappearance on Aramat (£4.95 each),
and the Grenadier Figures War Mammoth of
the Undead Legion , Champions Heroes and
Champions Villains (boxed £7.95 each) are
imported by Games of Liverpool,

85-87 Victoria Street, Liverpool LI 6DG.
Barbarians (55p per figure) and Dwarves (45p
per figure) are manufactured by Asgard
Miniatures, Unit 22, Bar Lane Industrial
Estate, Basford, Notts.

Zodiac Castings (prices as listed in the review)
are manufactured by Zodiac Castings,

83 Canning Street, Liverpool L8 7NW.

'If it's Grenadier it must be good/ quoth
my DM with all the glibness of an
advertising copywriter on a bad day, on
my showing him their latest boxed sets.
Riven with cliche he may be, but on this
occasion he's certainly right, for among
Grenadier's new boxed sets is the much-
ballyhooed War Mammoth of the Un¬
dead Legions, and there is no getting
away from the fact that it is a very nice
piece. It comes in a simple kit form, which
fits together easily and neatly, though you
will have to be careful when bending
tusks and trunk as the instructions
advise, because the metal will break if
pushed too far. When complete, the set
comprises nothing less than a skeleton
mammoth, festooned with bells and
skulls, and bearing a howdah with two
skeleton archers. Grenadier's recent re¬
leases have been among the best sculpt¬
ed and cast on the fantasy market of late,
and this piece is no exception, the crew
being real gems. Every bolt on the rusty
armour, every knuckle, every ridge on the
vertebrae is clearly picked out. As an
overall piece, it is both impressive and
dramatic, the mahoot's war-horn and the
bells evoking the apocalyptic onset of the
crack of doom.

Also new from Grenadier, though not
quite so eye-catching, are two sets to go
with their Champions game, one of
Super-heroes, and the other of Super-
villains. Thinking about it, the design of
these figures must have put sculptor
Andrew Chernak's imagination to a con¬
siderable test. After all, the aim was to
capture that distinctive comic-book style.

but there is a limit to the number of zap!
pow! poses you can invent. It's hardly
surprising, therefore, that some of these
figures are a bit samey, one or both arms
outstretched and about to leap into flight
being a popular stance. That said, the
standard of casting and sculpting is every
bit as good as the Mammoth piece, and
the muscle-bound, body-stockinged men
and leotard-clad women definitely do
have the essence of those childhood
heroes.

There are a couple of outstanding and
unusual figures in each set. The Heroes
box contains a Gargoyle with bat-wings, a
tail, and a face worthy of any D&D nasty,
while the Villains' includes imaginative
Cobra- and Anklyosaur men (yes, as in
the dinosaur). The latter is basically
human, but covered with spikes and
scales and with a large shell on his back.
There is also a character called Wreckage,
who sports a Mohican hair-do and partial
body armour — someone else has seen
Mad Max — and another suspended
above the ground by the cast-in flames of
his jet-pack. Truth, justice and the Ameri¬
can way are under threat yet again —
quick Robin! To the Bat-mobile!

The Grenadier sets retail at£7.95each.
Considering that imported figures always
work out dearer, that's not too bad for the
Mammoth, but as you only
get a dozen Super¬
characters per box, they
work out at over 60p each;
expensive, even by today's
standards.

J& tan Knight

Zodiac Castings

Resin-cast D&D accessories are quite
popular these days, and a new firm.
Zodiac Castings, have chosen to enter
the field with some fairly routine first
releases. These include a Pentangle on a
circular piece of floor, a trap-door, the rim
of a circular pit, a tomb and a large
fireplace and chimney. Frankly, these are
all pretty standard items, and there is
little to recommend Zodiac over their
better-established rivals. The detail on
the trap-door is good, but the tomb is so
basic that, without the lid, it could be
mistaken for a water-trough, and the
stonework on the fireplace is merely
suggested by a rough finish. One big
advantage they do have is that they are

cheap; the fireplace is only
40p, the tomb 18p, and the
other items 1 5p each. At
that price you can liven up
your dungeon with a
couple of accessories for
less than the cost of one of
your party of adventurers.
No doubt Zodiac, like
everyone else, will
improve with experience
and expand when their
imagination takes off,
and that may be
worth waiting for.

Jfe Ian Knight

AFTERMATH:

Campaign Pack A2

Sydney — The Wilderness Campaign is

the second module for the Aftermath
game; a direct sequel to Operation
Morpheus, the first release, with many
references throughout the booklet. Pro¬
fessionally-designed, Sydney is basically
a gazeteer of the city and surrounding
outlands. It is designed as a starter
campaign pack, and is full of useful ideas
and suggestions. There is a reason
behind everything that happens or exists,
and fully descriptive notes allow the GM
to keep players up to date on their present
location and environment.

The encounters tend towards the very
deadly — but may raise a giggle when
first met. Experienced role-players may
have already suffered at the hands
(paws?) of machine-gun toting rabbits,
but facing the first Carnivorous Koala,
Killer Kangeroo or Wild Wombat can be a
little mind-boggling.

The pack is designed only to be seen by
GMs, since it contains many references
to the period when the player-characters
were cryogenically asleep, and to the
political state of the world as it is 'now'.
This kind of information will be gradually
leaked to players as they negotiate with
NPCs, but should not be
more readily available.
Since Aftermath depends
more on negotiating and
problem-solving than on
shooting straight, the pack
should become a useful aid
to all referees.
& Chris Baylis

thb ruins of
CHICAGO

OPERATION LUCIFER

THE

MORROW

PROJECT

Product information

FGU’s Aftermath: Campaign Pack A2 — Sydney (£4.95), Casino Galactica (£3.65) and Seldon’s
Compendium of Spacecraft 2 (£4.35) are imported by Games of Liverpool, 85-87 Victoria Street,

Liverpool LI 6DG.

Timeline’s Morrow Project modules Operation Lucifer, The Ruins of Chicago and The
Stamaman Incident (£5.95 each) are imported by Chris Harvey Games, PO Box 100, Walsall,

W Midlands.

TSR’s STAR FRONTIERS module Mission to Alcazzar (£4.50), AD&D modules The Sentinel
and The Gauntlet (£4.50 each) and the revised World of Grey hawk gazeteer (£9.50) are imported
by TSR UK Ltd, The Mill, Rathmore Road, Cambridge CB1 4AD.

THE MORROW PROJECT:

As it has been some while
since the Sword of
Damocles scenario, it
seems strange that
Timeline have released
three new Post-Holocaust
specials simultaneously. It
is all the more
unwarranted when one
finds that the three are not
entirely dissimilar.

R-003 Operation Lucifer requires the
PD to have considerable knowledge of the
previous scenarios, as there are many
references to past experiences. It is set in
Minnesota and Wisconsin, where, for
comic relief, live a number of NPCs
collectively known as 'Napoleon's Own'
— including such famous celebraties as
Davy Crockett, Zorro, Long John Silver
and, for the more adventurous. Lady
Godiva. Their inclusion renders the for¬

midable and tense plot — involving an
unexploded Russian nuclear device —
trivial. The vital part of allthese scenarios
is the interaction with the NPCs, and this
suffers for the want of better ones.

The second, R-004 The Ruins of
Chicago, is a very chatty, slow-moving
adventure; not for the same, trigger-
happy team that liberated Riverton in
R-001. Chicago is a virtual time-bomb,
with nobody prepared to trust anybody.

The STAR FRONTIERS® game: SF4

Mission to Alcazzar involves a company
war on an out of the way planet. The
players are hired on as an investigation-
cum-commando team. After a while, ex-
wargamers might find themselves won¬
dering if they haven't picked up a copy of
Fire In The East by mistake — the
centrepiece of this module is something
right out of WWII.

As usual this adventure is immaculate¬
ly presented. Its artwork is stunning, part¬
icularly the illustration of the world of
Alcazzar. The players pull-out sheet is an
excellent feature, containing all the facts
they could possibly want to know.

The format of STAR FRONTIERS adven¬
tures seems to have been formalised.

There are six sections, each covering a
different aspect of the adventure. In this
specific case, the game will fall into three
phases; an investigation, an overland trek
and alien contact, and then....

The first two sections are standard
enough. The contact with the alien race
will be tricky for the referee; it must be
played with great subtlety. One must be
aware of this crucial aspect of the
adventure and the importance of player
success in this phase.

The real gem is the last phase — a tank
battle! The players drive several large
exploration vehicles, much akin to light
AFVs, opposed by a similar enemy force
which is accompanied by a number of

other vehicles. The weaponry is formid¬
able — rockets, heavy lasers and recoil¬
less rifles — whilethefinal confrontation
is a veritable Kursk. There are full rulesto
cope with all this, and thus the module
adds more scope to the Basic STAR
FRONTIERS rules.

The finals is supplemented by longer-
range plans for the adventurers, and
ideas for other scenarios. Thus, the full
scope of the pack is extensive, and many
situations can be drawn from the peculiar
economic position of Alcazzar. SF4 is a
recommended adventure. With a little
effort it can be very good value, particular¬
ly when one is let loose on the climax.

Stephen Nutt

SPACE OPERA: Casino Galactica & Starships of War

Casino Galactica and Seldon's Com¬
pendium of Spacecraft 2; Starships of

War are two new Space Opera sup¬
plements from Fantasy Games Unlimited.

Casino Galactica is an adventure setting
more than a scenario. The referee is
presented with a luxury holiday resort on
Arcturus VI. An extensive hotel complex
is mapped out, its organisation and
personnel are explained in some detail.
The supplement provides the referee with
many NPCs, some more detailed than
others, yet the range is wide. For example
there are enough guest NPCs to allow
some leeway for turnover, thus the
referee does not face the problem of the
players meeting the same old faces no
matter when they visit Arcturus VI.

There are some scenario frameworks
given. These are however no more than
that; the basic idea is there but the
referee is left with a lot of work. This is not
really a drawback because of the extens¬
ive character backgrounds presented in
the book. The referee, merely through
interaction with the players, should be
able to create some quite good situations
off-the-cuff. This is useful because most
of the situations will be undercover and
need to be free form if they are to work.

Starships of War is totally different. It
offers 33 warships from four of the inter¬
stellar powers of the Space Opera uni¬
verse. The size of these ships ranges from
a light 100-ton fighter to a huge 1,000,000-
ton battlestar. Full statistics are given to

Scenarios R-003, R-004 & R-005

As the first 'city' module, R-004 gives
players the chance to learn urban and
guerilla warfare, but the emphasis is on
the negotiations and interaction with the
various city factions. The scenario gives
good ground for an experienced team of
proven ability, but will be a very hard task
for novices.

The trio is rounded of by R-005 The
Starnaman Incident. One thing that
caught my eye was that the locals of this

scenario still know the Mississippi by its
name, while in R-003 it is only remem¬
bered as The River. Incident reverts back
to the style of R-001/2, with lots of
combat. This is the weakest of the three
releases, but there is an interesting
location designed as a play-aid for future
reference.

Back in #2 I wrote that The Morrow
Project could be the revelation rpg of the
future. Alas, I do not feel that Timeline

allow the ships to be used in space
combat. Each of the ship classes is
numbered and named, and a short intro¬
duction on naval terminology isalsogiven
with some relevant rule changes.

Deck plans for the smaller vessels are
provided in the same format as the earlier
book on merchants, yet the scale of these
plans precludes them
being enlarged to allow
them to fit figure scales.

The smaller ships are of
real use to the referee. The
larger ships are however
superfluous in a role-
playing context. As a
result, the supplement
is useless.

J& Stephen Nutt

have produced the goods
since, and these
scenarios do not save the
cause. But, with the right
amount of GM
preparation, they
can still be
entertainingly
played.

Ifc Chris
Baylis

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® modules: UK2 & UK3

UK2 The Sentinel and UK3 The Gauntlet

are the two component parts of the
Adlerweg series, which, although set in
the World of Greyhawk, are easily adapt¬
able to any AD&D campaign. It is also
possible to play each separately.

The Sentinel starts with the party
being called in to help rid Kusnir village of
the attentions of a pest who has been
acting most strangely (it gives nothing
away to say that the pest is to be found in
the FIEND FOLIO® Tome; both this and
the Monster Manual will be required to
play the adventure). The party's attempts
to find the creature will take them
through several encounters, most of
which yield information as to who or what
the Sentinel is. Indeed, most fun can be
had by introducing the adventure as a
straightforward monster hunt without
mentioning the Sentinel and letting the
party discover the rest for themselves.

One part of the module I didn't like at
first was the 'Outline of the Adventure',

which lists the anticipated sequence of
events and seems to dictate what the
players should do. However, things follow
a fairly natural order from the information
discovered and players are manipulated
only in the sense that it should be obvious
where they will go next.

If successful, the party concludes by
finding the Sentinel and being urged to
proceed as quickly as possible to UK3 —
moresalesforTSRITo be fair, an option is
given for an NPC party to continue the
adventure, but that would be a waste as
UK3 is even better than its predecessor.

Most of the action in The Gauntlet
takes place in and around the Keep of
Adlerweg, the defences of which are
extremely well-detailed. At one stage in
this module the party is assailed by a
veritable army, numbering over 180
assorted creatures! This could prove
rather difficultto DM, asthe party is likely
to split into two (or even three, if they're
as awkward as certain playtesters). How¬

ever, the guidelines in the module,
particularly the army battle plan, are
excellent and should ensure that both the
party and the DM survive (I still wouldn't
recommend it for novice DMs though!).

The final confrontation with the Gaunt¬
let can prove deadly. A string of unlucky
die throws didn't help my playtesters, but
they lost three out of seven before it was
overcome.

UK2 is for 2nd-5th level characters
totalling 20-25 levels, and UK3 for 3rd-
6th level, totalling 30-35 levels, which
seems to imply that all characters should
gain at least a level in UK2! We played
UK2 with 25 levels (5x5th), which seemed
about right, and UK3 with 35 levels
(7x5th), which produced 1 death and 4
incapacitations. Even allowing for luck, it
would seem that there is perhaps too big
a jump between UK2 and UK3.

Even so, UK2 is good, UK3 is very good,
and together, with that one misgiving,
they are excellent. Ilte Chris Hunter

Revised WORLD OF GREYHAWK

Greyhawk is the original D&D campaign
world, the birthplace of such characters
as Keoghtom, Heward, Mordenkainen
and Tenser and the setting for many of
TSR's AD&D modules. This new revised
edition consists of an 80-page Guide to
the World of Greyhawk, a
50-page Glossography for
the Guide and a large
(34x44") Map of the
continent described.
One's eye is immediately
'drawn to the map. It comes
in two halves and looks
very pretty, drawn in bold
colours and in a
Tolkienesque style.
However, when I came to
join the two halves
together I was dis¬
appointed; across the join
wastelands changed
colour, coastlines jumped
and the 30 mile hexes
became distorted.
Assuming the 30 miles is
measured face to face, the
map, by my calculations,
covers some 11 million
square miles of the
Peninsula which is the
Land of Flanaess, the
eastern portion of the
continent of Oerik of Oerth.

The map shows only major geographical
features and settlements, but even so
some of the geography seems a bit im¬
probable; deserts occur close to forests,
and a river starts in marshes on the north
coast, flows (up?) into some hills, through
two inland lakes and finally out into the
sea off the south coast!

The Guide is entitled 'Volume Three',
which threw me at first, but all is ex¬
plained in the foreword to the Gloss¬
ography. It is the only one of seven
ancientvolumesto re-surface in ourtime,
where TSR have published it; and !
thought Gary Gygax had invented it all!

The volume contains information as it
would be known by inhabitants of the
Flanaess. It covers the history of the land,
characteristics of the various human
races found there, deities, major geo¬
graphical features and a paragraph on
each of over 60 Kingdoms found in the
Flanaess. This wealth of information,
particularly the racial characteristics,
gives the DM an excellent base on which
to construct a campaign.

The Glossography gives the same in¬
formation in AD&D terms. It contains
extensive encounter tables for both geo¬
graphical and political divisions covering
the whole of the Flanaess. To use these
fully you will need the DM's Guide,
Monster Manual and Fiend Folio; but not
Monster Manual 2. The guidelines on

weather generation are the most com¬
prehensive I've ever seen. The eight
pages of small print look rather daunting
butthe actual process of weather generat¬
ion is not too difficult.

AD&D stats and background for such
famous characters as Keoghtom and
Hereward are given, as well as several
half-page wilderness scenarios which
even they would probably have had
problems attempting. While such inform¬
ation may not be directly useable, unless
you run a high-level campaign, it all adds
to the atmosphere. Something which I
think should be important to any cam¬
paign are the deities. The Guide gave you
the powers the gods are alleged to have;
the Glossography gives you the facts and
figures detailing what they actually can
do. A seventh characteristic of Comeli¬
ness ( — physical looks) is introduced in
describing these powerful beings, some
of whom give their clerics special powers
at extra experience point cost.

World of Greyhawk details a sizeable
continent but it is up to the individual DM
to detail inhabitants, locate towns, vil¬
lages etc; construct city plans and other¬
wise personalize the campaign. If you
haven't got a 'grand design' for your
campaign worked out and don't mind the
restrictions imposed by using someone
else's, then world of Greyhawk will prove
a worthwhile purchase. Chris Hunter

AMAZING AMBITION -

new ideas from Chris Harvey Games

Chris Harvey Games have some interest¬
ing new items available. There is a series
of frp aids that give highly detailed
descriptions of various typical game set¬
tings. These can be fitted into any game or
campaign, and thanks to the vastly
greater attention to minutae than most
referees have the time to contemplate,
their use will significantly add to the
verisimilitude of an encounter. Available
so far are Chilling Chambers, Alluring
Alcoves, Sylvan Settings and Fantasy
Furnishings, all at £4.95. I'm hoping that
Advanced Alliteration will be the next
release from this publisher but I fear I
could be disappointed.

Chris has recently had some newies
from Hero Games including Justice Inc
(£13.95), a boxed Champions system
game of the rip-roaring 30s type. Then
there's Champions 3 at £7.95 and a
Champions Screen at £4.95. If the NPCs
are wearing a little thin in your campaign,

you'll be glad of Great Super Villains
Contest at £4.95 as this is a whole book
full of real meanies. Organisation Book 1
(£4.95) tells you howto build up your own
super organisations for Super Hero
games.

Should you want regular creative input
to keep the action in your superworld
moving, then the Adventurer's Club
Magazine is bound to be a help. It's
similar in style to the Journal of the
Traveller's Aid Society or Autoduel
Quarterly and issues 1 -3 are available at
£2.50 each.

Less good news of Hero Games (and
doubtless caused by the wretched sterling

exchange rate) is that there are some
price increases. Champions goes to
£13.95 as does Espionage and some of
the adventures and supplements are also
increased. Finally, Chris tel Is methatfour
Morrow Project scenarios are expected
soon at a likely price of £5.95 each.

----""N

Tortured Games

An interesting joint venture was on show at
Games Day. The Halls of the Dwarven
Kings is a boxed adventure intended for use
with all major rpgs. It is produced by Beast
Enterprises (of Tortured Souls fame) and
Endless Games who are well known for
their Endless Plansfloor plans. Needlessto
say, the adventure element is designed by
Beast, while Endless Games chip in with
the necessary floor plans. Contents will
includefully illustrated player and DM aids.
Price is £7.95 and an October release was
planned at time of going to press.

r N

HugeQuest

The Avalon Hill version of RuneQuest
should be with us by the time you read this.

I haven't had a peek at the contents of the
box yet but at nearly 40 quid for the
combined players'/referee's set, those con¬
tents will have to be pretty darned good.
Disregard rumours that there is a free
Avalon Hill accountant with every box. It
was seriously considered, I believe, until it
was discovered that accountants (even free
ones) are VATable.

More Havoc

During those rare moments at Games Day
when the organisers weren't awarding
themselves prizes for being the 'Best'
something or other, it was possible to learn
of one or two new developments. Standard
Games, for example, had a preview of their
additional scenarios for Cry Havoc. They
are presented in a very well produced
booklet, with full colour cover, that exudes
an aura of class — succinctly demon¬
strating the benefits of being one's own
printer. Six scenarios are provided, ranging
from the full blooded Battle of Little
Wootton to the whimsical Knight's Lady.
Bound to sell well at £2.95 and its
prospects won't have been harmed by the
excellent review Cry Havoc received in
DRAGON® magazine #85.

Si 4

( -'N

Mail Shot

In the final issue of The Acolyte, Pete
Tamlyn suggests that there were only 3
copies of the spoof Embassy Siege press
release (see IMAGINE magazine #18).
Well, there was at least one other copy. I got
one from Ian Marsh. Naturally, there was
no chance that a bunch of Games Workshop
'B' teamers could put one over on me. I
pipped it for a hoax right away. It had to be.

It was inconceivable that Steve Jackson
Games would produce such an interesting-
sounding game. I'm sure the Daily Mail will
get the joke as well. I think it was them I
sent my copy to...

British Grenadiers

American made metal figures have always
been something of a luxury in the UK.
Customs duties, VAT, a weak pound and
freight charges have all combined to render
them odiously expensive when compared to
home-produced ranges. Despite these dis¬
advantages Grenadier Models (in particular,
their most recent ranges) have put up a
respectable performance and have
achieved quite a wide following. Now they
will be able to take on British ranges on
something like equal terms. A new company.
Grenadier Models UK Ltd, has been formed
as the result of cooperation between
Games of Liverpool and Grenadier Models
Inc. The purpose of this link isto manufacture
Grenadier figures in Britain and the

first range, Fantasy Lords, will be in the
shops any time now. There are 24 sets in
the range, blister packed and, although
prices have not been finalised at the time of
writing, they will be in line with those
prevailing among the British manufact¬
urers. The second range to appear, by the
way, will be the popular Call of Cthulhu
figures, also blister packed. Oh, and inci¬
dentally Mr Speaker sir, I should like to
declare an interest. I work for Games of
Liverpool and I'm also involved with the
establishment of Grenadier UK so I'm by no
means neutral. However, I think that the
news of this development is of sufficient
interest to override my natural tendency to
diffidence.

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

Don't wait any longer-get more FLAGSHIP for /ess money..

JOIN THE

FLAGSHIP BREAKTHROUGH!

HAVE you thought about taking the PBM challenge? PBM (Play by
Mail) fantasy and science fiction games are booming as never before.

PBM games pit you against the top British and international role-
players. In KEYS OF BLED, you lead your people through the carnage
of civil war and the threat of alien hazards on an unknown world. In
TRIBES OF CRANE you bind the success of your tribe to the fortunes
of the myriad secret factions struggling for power. In CRASIMOFF'S
WORLD you make your bid for fame as the gods themselves vie for
dominance. With full-time gamemasters backed by computers, the
postal role-playing adventures are an experience you shouldn't miss.

FLAGSHIP is the magazine of PBM adventure gaming. When we
started in 1 983, we had just 28 pages. Since then, we've matched the
explosive growth of the hobby and issue 4 broke through our 40-page
target, with 44 pages of reviews, illustrations, strategic advice, game-
master commentaries, humour, fiction and stop-press news of
Britain's latest fantasy role-playing game. And we now have discounts
for nearly every British postal game, including Crasimoff's World,
Feudal Lords, Galactic Conquest, Keys of Bled, Starglobe, Starmaster,
Starweb, Tribes of Crane, Universe II and Vorcon Wars.

And there are more changes to come. From issue 5 we're changing
our full-colour cover, and we're planning a new cover every issue from
then on. We're commissioning extensive, deep analysis of play in the
established British games to give our readers a decisive edge in their
battles. Our free small-ad section is booming, with reader alliances
forming in many of the major campaigns.

Is all this leading up to a change in price? Well, yes-but we're doing
so well that we can afford to bring the price down !-to encourage new
readers and work towards the day when every active player takes a
FLAGSHIP subscription as a matter of course. From issue 5, four
issues will only cost £5, making each issue cheaper than most turn
fees! If you start 3-4 games a year with our discount coupons, the
magazine will actually work out entirely free!

And our guarantee to subscribers is still in force: if you're dis¬
appointed, we'll refund the whole unused sub to you (minus the cost
of the issues already sent). Perhaps it says something about FLAGSHIP
that nobody has ever taken us up on this!

If you've yet to try the challenge of PBM gaming, don't wait any
longer. Join the FLAGSHIP breakthrough, and let us add a whole new
dimension to your adventures.

Send me 4 issues of FLAGSHIP from issue 4.1 understand that, if I'm
disappointed, I can write to cancel my subscription and get the
unused money back. I enclose £5.

Name.

Address (please print).

Post code

Send this form to FLAGSHIP, P.O. Box 12, Aldridge, Walsall, West Midlands WS9 OTJ

Please mention IMAGINE magazine when replying to advertisements

fy{JAl£j(y ‘Brian Creese

A Bi-monthly feature aBout tBepostalyami

EN GARDE!

The Time: 17th Century Trance
The Place: The fashionable Trrondissements of Paris
The Object: To reach the top of the social tree
The Methods: Quzvling!

M I P KnifjfttC ey to M Court
Againne: It Has come to my notice,
Sirrah, that you have 6een consorting zvith
my most faithful mistress, Mademoiselle
Anytime. ‘J'our arrogance, as ivell as your
foolishness, astounds me, and you leave me
no option other than to challenge you to a
duetto the death. I await your instructions
as to meeting place, weapon, seconds, etc.

En Garde! is an example of that rare
phenomenon, a commerical face-to-face
game which I have only ever seen played
by post. And extensively at that, for with
something like seven games currently
running, and between 10 and 20 players
in each game, En Garde! has a huge
number of participants. It is also a game
whose basics will be particularly under¬
standable to readers of this magazine, for
the game has a historical setting and no
clearly defined victory criteria, though the
aim is clear enough.

The game revolves around the Social
Level Table, and your aim is, quite simply,
to be top of it. You might start anywhere in
that table, for your starting position is
dependent on die rolls. These will deter¬
mine your initial status, and your back¬
ground legitimacy. You will also have
values for strength, constitution and
expertise. So you may well find yourself
at the start well up the table as a son of
the nobility, or a little lower down as a
bastard son of the nobility. Or right at the
bottom, the penniless son of a peasant.

But be not deterred, for anything is
within reach of the determined social
climber! Let us assume that you are
indeed the pits, the sort of man whom no
member of the nobility would dream of
even addressing; what are you going to do
about it? Firstly, you need a job, and there
is only one decent activity for the aspiring
socialite, you must join the army. Sadly
the better' regiments are not open to you,
but fear not, someone, somewhere will
be willing to have you. Exactly the same
thing may be said of joining a club, most
doors will be closed, but there is always
someone...

Once ensconced in your regiment you
will need to do some fighting, so you must
ensure that you spend some time at the

front. If you behave gallantly
and bravely you may find
yourself mentioned in des¬
patches and, hey, maybe
you're not so bad after all.

IrTdeed, if you continue to
fight bravely you may even
get promoted, and obviously
this moves you slowly up
the social ladder.

But the time comes when
you have to re-enter Paris
society, and off you go down
to your club. Drinking with
your betters is the objective
here, and an activity charm¬
ingly known as 'toadying'.

The situation is analogous
to attending GamesFair.

You may enjoy yourself

drinking with the masses,

but buy a drink for Messrs Cockburn and

Turnbull and you will have arrived. Get

bought a drink by Tamlyn and the sky's

the limit.

But I digress. Having gained your
promotion, boozed with the acolytes
(sorry!), your next step must be to find a
class woman to teach you how to behave
proper. The higher the class of your
mistress, and the more beautiful she is,
the more your social standing improves.
However, if she is particularly desirable
there may be other men after her, and if
you discover such people there is only
one honourable and gallant action open
to you — sabres at dawn.

Now this is starting to get serious. I
mean you may fight gallantly, and if
things look very bad you can surrender
(whoops, your social standards seem to
be slipping) but if your opponent feels like
it he may well just mis-hearyou, and your
involvement with the game just came to
an end. Such behaviour, needless to say,
is much frowned upon and the victor,
instead of going up in the world, slides
down, but if he wanted you out of the way
enough...

But things are going well, so why not
spend some of the money which by now
will be flowing your way, on a party. There
is kudos to be gained from every attendee,
but as ever, if all the right people cc. ~se to
the party, your party is suddenly the one
to be seen at.

Like many postal games of the more free¬
form style, every game will have slightly
different rules, but all revolve around the
activities I have just described. Your
orders will consist of specifying your
character's actions for each of the four
weeks which make up the turn. To rise a
level on the social ladderyou needtogain
three times the next level in Social Points,
ie to go to 4th level you need, in a single
turn, to earn 12 points, but to rise to 18th
level you need 54 points. You will also
need to gain enough points to keep you
where you are. Points are gained for
military position, military prowess, toady¬
ing, duelling, 'mistressing', holding part¬
ies and almost invariably in postal games,
for writing press. Indeed the great feature
of En Garde! games is the vast amount of
press written about the characters.

En Garde! is a particularly suitable
game for beginners to play by post, since
relatively little effort is required to keep
your character at a respectable level, and
as such it represents an easy way of
participating in a zine. However, as in life,
reaching the top is a different proposition.

So, what shall I do now? Round the club
for a pint or seven with Lord du Bonnet, go
tothe Regimental dinner or roundto Mme
Glenda Slag for a quick...

10£ Brian Creese
Brian will be back in issue 22 with
another postal game review .

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

zoonoo^rSaKD<go

GAME COMPANY

On this page we wUC advertise your RPG event or dub,
or appeal for other gamers in your area, free of charge.
Write to IMAGINE , The Mid, Rathmore Rd, Cambridge .

CCuBs

Lots of club notices this month, so you'll need your

eyes of minute seeing...

First, anyone living in THIRSK or SOWERBY in North
Yorkshire and interested in playing Basic D&D, ring
Simon on Thirsk 22687 after 5pm for details.

Martin Lewis of WATFORD is an inexperienced
gamer looking for folk aged 17+ 'who are patient
enough to allow a novice to accompany them on their
next adventure'. Has car, will travel — write to 95
Vicarage Road, Watford, Herts, if you fit the bill.

A notice from BLYTH... Do you, like us, think that the
time has come for the role-players north of the Tyne to
partake in the creation of a new gaming club (AD&D,
CoC etc) in the so far ignored wilderness of Blyth?
Stand up and be counted, or better still, telephone
Mick on Blyth 360577'.

Carl Morris, a 32 year-old teacher, is looking for
fellow role-players in the TELFORD area. He is
interested in all RPGs and has written several
scenarios. If you would like to help form a club, write
to 51 Regent Street, Wellington, Telford, Shropshire.

David Webster wants to form a games club in the
LEICESTER / LOUGHBOROUGH area. He prefers
low-level play, plays AD&D, CoC, Traveller and
others, and will learn any system. Beginners or
experienced gamers aged 14+ contact:

30 Queniborough Road, Queniborough, Leics. Tel
Leicester 600383.

Robert Perello is at sixth form college in LONDON
(N20) and wants to know of D&D players in his area.
Contact Club Ref 2001, IMAGINE Magazine.

J Lewis of EAST CROYDON, player and DM of AD&D
with 3 years experience, is looking for individuals or
groups in the Croydon area with whom to play the
game. 'I believe strongly in character development
and playing realistically.' Tel 01-680 9639

Now for established clubs looking for new members:

'The Black Chasm Role-Playing Club of BRIDG¬
NORTH meet occasionally to play such games as
AD&D, Traveller. Those who wish to join should
contact Glyn Simpson, 3 Pool Drive, Bridgnorth,
Shropshire WV16 5DL. Must be able to travel to
Bridgnorth.'

'Goole Roleplayers — yes, there is intelligent role-
playing life in GOOLE. We play AD&D, RQ, STAR
FRONTIERS, Traveller, Star Fleet Battles, Battle-
cars and other games. The group meets at least twice
a week. New members welcome, experience un¬
necessary. Why run from kobolds when you can slay
giants with us? Contact David Benton on 0405 5029.'

'Anyone above age 10 welcome, female members
especially wanted' at an RPG club in EAST
GRINSTEAD. They meet at Neale House, Moat Road
on Sundays from 2 to 5.30pm, to play whatever
games people bring along, especially RuneQuest,
Call of Cthulhu, Car Wars, Striker, D&D. Details
from Rick, East Grinstead 25377, or Phil,
Copthorne 714825.

'South East Essex Military Society (S E E M S) is
now meeting every Wednesday and Friday 7-10pm
at the Rocheway Community Centre, Rocheway,
Rochford, Essex. Roleplaying, board games,

Warhammer and traditional wargames. New and old
members always welcome. For furhter information

contact Richard Stokes, 159 Stambridge Road,
Rochford, ESSEX. Tel Southend on Sea 546166.'

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY Boardgames and Role-
Playing Society meets on Tuesday evenings in term
time in the Union House Bar to play AD&D, RQ,
C&S, CoC, Diplomacy, 1829, Railway Rivals.

Contact lain Bowen, 305 Neuadd Sibly (on campus).

Finally, the HIGH WYCOMBE Wargames Club

wrote to tell us that they now meet at Bassetsbury
Manor on Thursdays, 7-10pm, and not as advertised
in a previous IMAGINE magazine. The first visit is
free, but please phone Steve Easton on Bourne End
22831 to say you are going.

Events

You may be too late to book for Novacon 14, inGrand
Hotel, Birmingham, November 9-11, which features
Guest of Honour Robert Holdstock. Full attending
membership £6. Contact Ann Green, 11 Fox Green
Crescent, Birmingham 27 for details.

And you'd better book your flight now if you plan to
attend Son of-Pandemonium in downtown Toronto
on January 19, 1985. This will feature tournaments,
an auction, a fun-gaming area and dealers, demon¬
strations etc. For information write to P 0 Box 67,
Stn. F, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2L4.

Yorcon will take place 5-8 April 1985 in the
Dragonara and Queens hotels, Leeds. Guest of
Honour will be author Gregory Benford. Enquiries to
Christine Donaldson, 46 Colwyn Road, Beeston,
Leeds LS11 6PY.

IMAGINE m aga zine, Nm*em6er 1984

★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Fantasy Media

Colin Greenland, author of
Daybreak on a Different
Mountain and co-editor of SF
magazine Interzone, reviews the
latest additions to the
fantasy/SF media.

★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A SOLO FANTASV GAMF.BOOK

.. SAGAS OF THK

DEMONSPAWN

- -- BOOK ONE

fire*wolf

J.H. BRENNAN

W&ih,

r/ 7 e /afesf />? f/7e /o/7<? cA)a/>7 o/ So/o Fantasy Gamebooks was launched this autumn by Fontana. J H Brennan,
already responsible for the Armada series, Grai/quest, has written the first two in the Sagas of the
Demonspawn, 'aimed at a more adult audience'. If you want to find out just how this aim is achieved, the

books cost £1.50 each.

'YaARGGHH!' 'HNUURRGH!'
HNNAARGGHHH!' Yes, it’s CONAN
THE DESTROYER (Universal, PG). His
cowardly sidekick Malak (Tracey Walter,
looking and sounding uncannily like Peter
Lorre) is hiding under the altar, leaving
Conan alone, but for his biceps. He takes
on the black-robed horsemen who have
surrounded him in the valley, and he
must have insisted that they observe
strictly the rules for melee rounds, be¬
cause they come at him one at a time,
enabling him togrind all their noses in the
dust individually and in different ways.

Then comes the haughty Queen
Taramis (Sarah Douglas) to offer Conan
(Dustin Hoffman — oh, all right then,
Arnold Schwarzenegger) a job. He has to
escort the naive young Princess Jehnna
(Olivia D'Abo) to a magic castle, to fetch a
magic jewel, to take it to a magic temple,
to trade it in for a magic horn, to bring it
home again, to reanimate the dreaming
god Dagoth. Princess Jehnna's virginity
must be preserved throughout, because
as soon as she gets home she's going to
be (don't tell Conan) sacrificed. So Conan
assembles his motley questing crew —
one princess, one thief, one giant, one
wizard, one bandit — and off they quest
through the primaeval landscapes of
ancient Hyborea (as played by Mexico,
because the De Laurentiis team were
already there filming Dune, so they could
make Conan the Destroyer in their spare
time). 'What good is a sword against
sorcery?' muses Conan, but he generally
manages to find something to do with it
anyway.

Fans of Grace Jones will be delighted to
hear that she's quite splendid as the
warrior bandit Zula, chucking hefty
quarterstaffs about with great relish and
accuracy. She did most of her own stunts;
Master of the Sword and Fight Co¬
ordinator Kiyoshi Yamasaki called her 'a
natural'.

Apart from the fact that it is acted by real
people, Conan the Destroyer is pure
comicbook, which has the odd effect of
making the actual animated comicbook
largely superfluous. Like Conan, FIRE
AND ICE (Thorn EMI, PG) is written by
the Marvel team of Roy Thomas and
Gerry Conway and is a tale of sword and
sorcery in 'a magical world you'll never
want to leave'. Truth to tell, it's a magical
world I never wanted to go to in the first
place, designed as it is by Frank Frazetta,
whose pseudo-mystical cheesecake al¬
ways left me cold.

Fire and Ice is directed by Ralph
Bakshi, who's never really recovered
from attempting the south face of The
Lord of the Rings and getting stuck
halfway. Much more enjoyable is his
earlier Wizards, now on video from
CBS/Fox, a fantasy with a sly sense of
humour. Compared with this. Fire and Ice
is a bit glum. Come back Arnold
Schwarzenegger, all is forgiven. 'Grmphl'
'Hnnuurghl' 'Grraaarrghhhl'

M ore heroics on ice in Gregory Ben-
ford's AGAINST INFINITY (New English
Library, £1.75). This unusual adventure
story is set on Ganymede, a moon of

Jupiter undergoing geological
and ecological surgery of the
kind known in science fiction
as 'terraforming', to make it
habitable for human beings.
The one major item the Earth
pioneers have no way of deal¬
ing with is the Aleph, a huge
but spectacularly elusive alien
artifact — or is it a sentient
being? Just when you least
expect it, the Aleph comes
burrowing out of sheer rock
and tramples anything that
gets in its way, shrugging off
lasers and electron beams, and
changing shape as it goes.
Manuel Lopez, son of the
mission commander. Old Matt,
a taciturn space veteran, and
Eagle, a savage cyborg, set
themselves to hunt it down, for
science, for glory, but mainly
Because It's There. The macho
jaunt becomes thoroughly absorbing in
the hands of Benford, who writes with
equal attention to scientific plausibility
and human emotion, and writes well.

The WHITE HART (Corgi, £1.75) is the
first in a trilogy called The Book of Isle, by
Nancy Springer. It's actually more sub¬
stantial than its terribly twee cover would
suggest: Springer has delved deep in the
legend and myth of the Celtic world and
produced a creditable facsimile. When
her imaginary country of Welas gets
misprinted as 'Wales' on pi 74 it doesn't
seem incongruous. Ellid daughter of
Pryce Dacaerin is promised in marriage to
her cousin Cuin son of Clarric, but falls in
love with Bevan, who rescues her from
kidnap. Bevan is a demigod at the end of
the Age of Gods, doomed by his own
choice to mortality, but not to powerless¬
ness. In prose that is sentimental but
stately. Springer details the struggle of
duty and desire as Cuin and Bevan ride
out together against Pel Blagden of the
Pit. She has an excellent grasp of the
complex conventions of courtesy and
chivalry that govern and organize the
tales of knighthood in medieval texts.
Much more than most modern fantasists,
she uses them not only to shape and
direct her characters, but also to restore
clarity and dignity to material that has
become worn from careless handling.
WB Yeats would, I think, have approved.

Ife Colin Greenland

Colin will be here again next month , with
ideas for Christmas reading and viewing.

IMAGINE nuuptdn* November 1984

letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters.... letters....

Letters

Ah-ha; you've arrived at last! We've got quite a
few letters to get through this month as well.
So without even mentioning the fact that
anyone who has an opinion that they think
they wish to share with other gamers should
write to IMA GINE magazine (letters). The Mill,
Rathmore Road, CAMBRIDGE CB1 4AD- we'll
proceed.

Two recent articles in the magazine have
highlighted the different opinions gamers have
on experience and alignment. First, you will
recall the article on What To Do With A
Dragon's Treasure from U17 and Turnbull
Talking from the issue after:

Jenn, Southwell, Notts: As if anyone needed
advice on what to do with treasure. I mean, what
is there to be done with money, except hoard it
and hoard it.... My lot will hate me when I
suggest this method of relieving them of their
wealth. Taxes are a bit boring; perhaps this will
be more popular.

However, the bit about the ‘genuine multi-
classed character’ rubs a wee bit against the
grain. Do we see the birth of the — gulp —
totally all-round character? I think bought
experience is a fine notion, but if we are to allow
human multi-classers, ability score restrictions
on permissible classes should apply in all cases.

Paul Bernal, Swavesey, Cambs: I enjoyed What
To Do With A Dragon’s Treasure, and #18’s
Turnbull Talking. The way I see it, there is a
very distinct difference between experience
points and experience levels, and this can be
brought out by the use of variable training costs.
Xps can be awarded (rather than bought) for
treasure, monsters killed and so on; this repre¬
sents actual experience, using your skills in life-
or-death situations. Having done this, a character
must pay for training, to learn new skills and
better skills, which must again be used in real
action before further progress is made. All the
fencing, or praying, or reading dusty tomes will
be no good at all if the character cannot act under
pressure.

Jonathan Smith, Chinnor, Oxon: Re Turnbull
talking: ‘officially’ gps do not buy xps. I think
this is made clear by page 86 of the DMG, though
it includes rules for training costs to go up levels
— more useless complexity.

5 Whitbread, Uttoxeter, Staffs: With reference to
Turnbull Talking in #18,1 was interested in the
question that arose. To attempt to find an
answer, I referred to the Basic D&D® rules, and
sure enough I found the answer in the Players’
Manual, on page 21. It says, at the end of the
practice solo adventure:

‘....your newly found treasure is worth a total
of 61 lgp.... For monsters you get.... 315. Adding
it to the 611 for treasure, your total XP award is
926.’

This means that you keep both the treasure
and the xps. Presumably this can be applied to
both the Basic and ADVANCED DUNGEONS

6 DRAGONS® games.

David Webster, Queniborough, Leics: I had

always used the xps or gps method, but more
recently have found awarding both can be
effective, depending on the players and the
money supply.

Robert Walker, Caithness, Scotland: Was What
To Do With A Dragon’s Treasure a joke, or do
some people not do what the article suggests?

Jeremy Nuttall, Congleton, Cheshire: For the

first time in ages Don is talking about something
worthwhile. Well done Don. We never used to
make players pay for xps, but now they better
watch out....

Leigh Clayton, Portsmouth: I don’t think Don
Turnbull should be given a whole page....

Be quiet, Leigh, or he'll hear us. / think the
above gives you the idea. Before we printed the
article and TT, the games playing world was
confused, separate and unguided. Now, it's
exactly the same.... / wonder if there's a 'one
true way' concerning alignment?

David Webster: I have always felt alignments
tend to stereotype characters, so I normally ask
players for a set of their characters’ principles
and beliefs and ask them to stick to these as they
would an alignment.

Jeremy Nuttall: Stirge Corner hit upon one
strange area of the D&D game in the alignment
system. I run my system where no player has an
alignment, but acts in their own individual way.
The GM is the one who determines alignment
when detect evil spells and so on are cast. The

overall feel of my campaign at the moment is one
of Good struggling against Evil with Druids
trying to maintain the balance.

Jenn: This is how I run my alignment system:

According to the history books, when All created
his world, a force in opposition to that which
was created came into being. At first Uncreated
was not evil as we know it today, it merely
complimented Created.

Eventually there developed the Three Powers
— Law, Neutrality and Chaos — which were the
same, and yet different aspects of the same. So the
Tale of Numbers read as far as three: One,
Creator, the All; Two, Powers of Created and
Uncreated; Three, Powers of Law, Neutrality
and Chaos.

Uncreated was jealous of the World, and of
Creator’s hold upon it, and so began to destroy
its harmony by planting seeds of dissent. Then,
with the world unstable because of its inter¬
vention, Uncreated dealt its blow: it split the
Three, so they could not (and cannot) now be
thought of as one — Good was divided.

But Good fought back, and forced upon Evil
Uncreated the same split, disuniting and weak¬
ening it also.

So Good and Evil fight, and hold equal
power. But the division of Power is different for
each, for a portion of Good escaped the split.
The All imprisoned Evil and split Good within
Time, but whole Good remained free and united
with the Creator. This may give Evil an advan¬
tage within Time — but part of Good is free.

Interesting situation, yes?

Back Issues

Back copies of IMAGINE 1 * magazine are still available direct from the publisher. Is your collection complete?

1 Introductory scenario, figure painting ★

3 AD&D scenario, Dave Langford fiction

4 STAR FRONTIERS® game scenario, Anne McCaffrey fiction

5 CELTIC SPECIAL: new druid spells, Celtic mythology.

6 Acrobat class, multi system scenario, Ian Watson fiction

7 The DRAGONQUEST® game: introduction and scenario

8 Cantrips, Sorceror’s Apprentice, intermediate level scenario

9 FREE BOARDGAME, 0-level MU scenario, Cantrips

10 Phantasmal Forces, AD&D scenario

11 Cavalier class, Horse Combat, Private Lives of NPCs ★

12 Solo adventure, Terrain$Climate, Brief Encounter, Enchantment ★

15 GamesFair ‘84 Special, Marsh Dragon ★

16 EGYPT SPECIAL: mythology, magic, scenario. PELINORE

17 CELTIC SPECIAL II: mythology, scenario. Drow ★

18 SF features, Creating Monsters, Games Without Frontiers ★

19 Companion Set scenario, Golems, Private Lives of NPCs II

All back issues are available at £1.00 each (UK price only).

★ Stocks running low, please order now to avoid disappointment

IMAGINE nuujadne, November 1984

Yes it is - although, just like any other
'alignment system'. I'm sure it's major attract¬
ion in your campaign comes from the fact that
your players accept it and manipulate their
characters within it. And that's the crux of it;
each group of players needs to adopt an
alignment/deities/religion system that they
can feel comfortable with. Some will ignore
alignment in all but its most blatant aspects,
while others, like Jenn, will add a great deal of
sophistication to their alignment play. This is
an area where interpretation is not just an
encouraged facet of the game, but an absolute
neccessity.

The last major chunk of mail revolved around
the Celtic material in #18, a subject we
touched on last time.

Carl Seaquisl, Annapolis, Maryland, USA: I

enjoyed the adventure Tir Nan Og, but was far
less impressed by the history/mythology articles.
Both the second part of Magic & Mayhem and all
of Lore, Lay & Legend were simply random
excerpts from old Irish and Welsh literature. Not
only do I see no useful application for this
information to role-playing, but I doubt that it is
even helpful in personal education. It’s trivia! I
would prefer to see articles with smaller scope
that are complete; for example, an essay on the
development of one god’s image in the eyes of
different Celtic peoples would give a better
perspective of the God, and allow the GM to
role-play either the God or his followers very

well. Brian Branston’s Gods of the North is a
good source for Nordic studies, and I assume his
book The Lost Gods of England will be of equal
quality.

As an example of the sketchy nature of Lore,
Lay and Legend, I note the following. Cad
Sodden is included in a list of the three most
frivolous battles of Britain, but Robert Graves
has shown in The White Goddess that the story,
which is older than the list, originally described
the replacement of an entire pantheon!

Melvyn Huntley, Poole, Dorset: Having read the
Letters Page in #18,1 had to write to you and say
that #16 is the best issue you have produced so
far. Those readers who were ‘cool’ to the Egypt-
AD&D link-up should be cast into the void. It
makes a change for a scenario not to be based in
some pseudo-medieval world. I have a fixation
for Middle Eastern settings, and your special
feature was like an oasis in the desert to me.

Jenn (Again? Won’t people start to talk?): Very
good articles, but watch some of the pronoun-
ciations Mr Davis — I reckon you’re simplifying
them a wee bit. This is the stuff which attracts
me and my type — legend, lore and names with
meanings that matter. Similar treatment of our
friends the Norsemen would go down a treat.

Robert Walker: Celtic articles. How much was
from the Celtic myth, and how much was from
the author’s imagination?

Letters

Iain Dafydd Bowen, Port Singleton, Abertawe,
Wales: Your excellent article on the Celts was
well documented and was made up of interesting
‘software’. The Mabinogion articles were very
nicely written with perhaps only two mistakes/
omissions. While you corrected the mistake of
Dyved to Dyfed, you missed the correction of
Cantrev to Cantref — ‘v’ does not exist in
modern grammatical Welsh. An important part
of the story of Hafgan is that he recognizes Pwyll
as not being Arawn and realizes that he will
receive no mercy. Another point is that Pwyll
and Arawn look after each other’s realm so well
that no man notices, and this contributed much
to their friendship.

Marcus L Rowland: Many thanks for publishing
my Traveller article, The Highest Wisdom.
Unfortunately, the starship’s USP didn’t repro¬
duce in the reduced format. Hardened Traveller
players will need the following statistics:

Calypso Class Laboratory Ship
High Guard Specifications (2nd edition)
LX137 Hartnung Challenger
LX-4422241 -010000-10000-(T

Batteries Bearing 1

Batteries 1

MCr 164.91 400tons TL=13 EP=8 Agility=l
Crew'=5Passengers=5Low'=0Cargo=10Marines=0
The ships boat is a standard unarmed design.

J& Letters edited by Paul Cockburn

VOP

by Ian Gibbs

Next Issue

# 21 : £1

YOU HAVE ONLY ONE MONTH TO SAVE THE WORLD

Introducing the one-and-only

MARVEL SUPERHEROES® game

At last — it's here! Come with us into the amazing world of
Superhero role-playing in this special issue of IMAGINE™ magazine

- plus -

MONSTERS, MAGIC & MAYHEM — those special magical creations;
how to breed the dragon-winged, tiger-clawed, armoured-shelled vorpal bunny

from the safety of your own castle

- plus -

our own brand of Xmas fun (what? Xmas already?)

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

There's only
one word
to describe
a magazine
that publishes
science fiction
of this calibre.

Ask your local
retailer to deliver or

write to:

TSR UK Limited,

The Mill, Rathmore Road,
Cambridge CB1 4AD
Telephone 0223 212517

AMAZING" is a trade mark owned by TSR Inc

THE

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* IRREGULAR
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* INTEGRAL
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RPGs and supplements. War Games *
Science Fiction Games * Citadel Figures *
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Davco Microtanks

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Open 9.30-1.30 and 2.30-5.30 Closed Mondays

DIALOG

Lew Pulsipher’s regular column
which proves that the UK and the
really are two nations
divided by a common language.

I’m the computer nut at Castle Puls, but my
Alter Ego reads computer material occasionally,
including the articles that they have in
IMAGINE and White Dwarf magazines. So I
wasn’t surprised when Alter asked me why what
he read in British magazines seems so different
from American computer scribblings.

‘Well, although there may be more computers
per capita in Britain than America, if we can
believe one British manufacturer, Americans
spend more money on computers, and compar¬
able equipment is cheaper in the USA. In Britain
cassette tape is easily the major method of mass
storage, but here the number of cassette users is
dropping out of sight. For example, the Com¬
modore disk-drive shortage occurred because
90% of the zillions of Americans who buy a
Commodore 64 buy a disk drive as well, a much
higher percentage than the company planned
for.’

‘And also,’ Alter interjected, ‘Commodore
computers and disk drives are $100 cheaper,
each, than anyone else’s.’

Yes, but prices are decreasing despite the end
of the Great Suicidal Price War that killed
Timex — who marketed Sinclair computers —
and TI, and severely wounded Atari. Most
computers sold now include a disk drive or two
in the price — cheaper than buying them
separately. Anyway, many games aren’t even
sold in cassette form any more, and you could
never get much non-game software on cassette.
And another difference between American and
British micro-dom is usable RAM. Anything less
than 48k here is a joke — in fact the 16k Atari is
the only machine you can find in stores w ith less
than 64k — and most non-reflex games are
written for machines with at least 48k.’

‘Why don’t American software houses convert
games for British computers? One million
Spectrums is nothing to sneer at.’

‘Hard to say, since they go to the trouble of
converting programs to different machine lang¬
uages here, despite the difficulties. Maybe it’s
just a long w'ay from California to Britain, Alter
— 7,000 miles? And American software firms
don’t know how to do business in Britain. Most
of them can’t even do business properly in
America. And the American, Timex, version of
the Spectrum — though it was well received
when it came out before Christmas — isn’t sold
any longer because Timex bailed out of the
computer business. They refused to risk further
competition with Commodore and Atari.’

‘What about 8 bit vs 16 bit?’

‘It takes a w'hile for the full superiority of the
‘bigger’ chips to be realized. But we’re already
into chips that are 16-bit at one ‘end’, 32 at the
other, such as the Apple Mackintosh and its
big-deal ‘1984’ advert. Unfortunately, American
manufacturers of both hardware and software
are bogged down in IBM mania. It would be
hard for British readers to imagine how the US
micro industry is dominated by those three
letters. The IBM PC is not bad, but it’s nearly
three years old — ancient by computer standards.
Yet everyone (except Apple) wants to make his
computer IBM compatible’. And when IBM
comes out with a cripple like the PCjr...’

‘What an awful keyboard, a throwback.’

‘...yes, grossly overpriced, but the pundits fall
over themselves in a hurry to say it’ll become the
home computer standard because of those three
letters. Allegedly, everybody writes software for

it, even though not many people are actually
buying the machine; and sooner or later, the
reasoning goes, people will buy it just so they
can use all that software. I think they’re wrong
— people aren’t that gullible, when there are so
many cheaper computers around with lots of
softw are — but who know's? And if the operating
system becomes popular, Commodore and Atari
will issue ‘compatible’ machines and decimate
the PCjr. I hope. At least Britain doesn’t have to
put up w'ith such BS.’

If all that’s true, Puls, maybe the British will
be the innovators for a while.’

If the Apricot and the Sinclair QL are any
indication, you may be right. Or the Japanese
may do it with an all-in-one color-computer-
monitor-TV-VCR-phonograph-tape-deck-‘video-
tex’ machine — did I forget anything?’

AM/FM radio.’

‘Sure. But w hile w^e’re speaking about differ¬
ences between the US and Britain, Alter, do you
think the British can imagine what the D&D
phenomenon is like over here?’

‘Well, you told them about the morning D&D
cartoon show'. By the way, after the first four
episodes all I could get was repeats, ‘til I gave up.
There was a rumor that adults complained
about the excessive violence, but I doubt that
explains it. Anyway, they’re showing new' stuff
now.’

Yes, they know' about the cartoon, but what
about the rest? The D&D lunchboxes for
schoolkids, and D&D notepads — maybe even
D&D underw ear and T-shirts and bedcovers. We
gave a 500-piece D&D jigsaw' puzzle to Jim and
Karen. At Christmas there were 6- to 12-inch
plastic dolls in the shops — not a half-bad
dragon, though evidently not many dolls were
actually sold. There are D&D adventure books
on children’s best-seller lists, and novels using
the theme if not the name of the game have been
published. One even reached the adult best-seller
list.’

‘Mazes and Monsters or whatever? From w hat
I read about it, that was hardly a plus for FRP. It
made the game look like an activity for
crackpots, or something that w r ould warp the
minds of children. We don’t need that kind of
publicity, Puls.’

‘No, but that’s not as bad as when people who
confuse D&D wdth live-action ‘games’ like
Survivor, Kaos/Killer, and the Society for
Creative Anachronism’s tournaments.’

I can see how they might mistake the SCA —
at least they wear armor and use swords
(wooden, thank heaven). I don’t know how
people confuse fantasy role-playing with Kaos
or Survivor, since they use dart guns and a
contemporary setting.’

But they do. And do you remember that gang
that put on a ‘demonstration’ at the ORIGINS
convention a few' years ago, with real, naked
swords instead of wooden ones? Even if it was
half-slow motion — ‘only’ half — I wish they’d
gone to the next state.’

How could I remember when you made me
stay at that castle last year? By the way, Puls,
w'hat’s the latest on the D&D movie?’

‘I try not to notice, Alter. I dread the day when
it may come to pass.... Such prospects make us
over-30 D&Ders cringe. And speaking of age, I
think it’s bedtime. Don’t forget the alarm.’

J& Lew Pulsipher
IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

Aztecs believed they had to make sacrifice
to ensure the sun rose every morning.
Very Lawful; but Lawful Evil,
not Lawful Good.

adventurer

Last issue, I started with a little moral
p rob I e rn ^for. the wo u Id-be La wf u I
Good; so here's a similar problem for
the bad guy. Imagine you are a
Chaotic Evil thief who finds himself in
a party consisting entirely of ultra-
Lawful Good characters; how would
you behave? Would you, for instance,
blaspheme loudly at the miserable
goody-goodies and lay about you with
gusto and a dagger? I hardly think so,
unless you are looking for a short life
but a merry one. The chances are that
you will act holier than holy, biding
your time and waiting for the golden
opportunity, as when the chief cleric
asks you to hold the rope while he
lowers himself down this interesting-
looking well. Aa-tchooo! Crash /
"Sor-ry!”

But there are many DMs who would
complain that you are not acting in
character, just because you are behaving
most of the time as though you were
Lawful Good. This is not right. It may be
that handsome is as handsome does, but
in the AD&D game, evil is as evil thinks. If
a player wants to make sure that the DM
doesn't misunderstand his actions, he
can always take him aside privately and
explain that beneath that lily-white ex¬
terior, his character's heart is as black as
coal. He may even stipulate that his
character spends his spare time, when
unobserved by the rest of the party,
torturing cats.

Evil characters pose a number of prob¬
lems, for both players and for DMs. For
players, it is particularly hard to make
progress with an Evil character — they
tend to not live long. And they often find
themselves spending most of their time
formulating horrid plots that they never,
or rarely, get the chance to execute. For
the DM, the problem is that it is usually
impossible to judge whether a player is
being true to his Evil alignment or not,
since most of the time he will be
dissimulating his true intentions. Only if
the player misses some really obvious
opportunities to do Evil and get away with
it, or starts making sacrifices beyond the
call of duty for the good of others, can it
really be said that the player is acting out
of alignment. The exception to this is
when you have a party entirely of evil
characters (most likely Lawful Evil in such
a case) when they can give vent to their
wickedness freely.

\ once had the opportunity to play a
characte, in a party entirely made up of

Chaotic Evil characters — it was quite an
experience. The party rarely got as far as
the dungeon, and spent most of its time
running riot in the village, slaughtering
the staff in the inn and robbing tills rather
than monsters. The poor DM, who was a
novice, didn't know what had hit him —
he had expected to run the game in the
dungeon, not the village. He coped very
well, considering. Be warned; it might
happen to you. Be ready if it does.

of ritual human sacrifice to make sure the
sun rose every morning. Very Lawful, but
Lawful Evil, not Lawful Good. Another
good example of the Lawful Evil type is
provided by the Nazis — a rigid, law-
abiding society. It just so happens that
laws which say that Jews should be
gassed by the million are wicked and evil.

Again it is necessary to consider Chaos
and Evil in the context of how you wish to
implement alignments, whether merely

A page for the
not-so-experienced

Sauron rath
marches wi
Such anti-h
fantasy lite
common ir
fighting on

would be quite a novel

^n argument you may come across^
regard to characters of
alignment, is that to be truly Chaotic
should behave randomly, and do i
things as decide the course of
actions by the throw of a die. Thi
error. Chaos, in the sense that it is used
when talking about alignments, does not
stand for random behaviour. It stands for
freedom of behaviour. The prime example
of a Chaotic Evil person in real life was
probably Aleister Crowley, the famous
black magician. One of Crowley's sayings
(and I quote from memory) was 'there is
but one law; do what you will'. This sums
up the Chaotic attitude quite nicely.
Whatever pleases you, do it. No-one has
the right to tell you to do otherwise,
unless of course they coerce you. If it is
possible to sum up the Chaotic Good
attitude as succinctly, the phrase would
have to be 'do what you please as long as
it doesn't harm anybody.' Already the
modification introduces an element of
Law. Chaotic Good is not as Chaotic as
Chaotic Evil.

As I have said before, and will probably
say again, to get a proper understanding
of Chaos as an alignment, the best thing
to do is to read the Moorcock novels in
which it originates. Remember too, that
Chaos is the antithesis of Law, not Good.
Law can be rigid, sterile, unbending,
unpitying. Lawshows no mercy — punish¬
ment follows crime as surely as the law of
gravity decrees that an unsupported body
must fall. Think also of a society like the
Aztecs, who believed that it was absolute¬
ly essential to keep up a regular practice

As to the Moorcockian battle
Law and Chaos, to be a member of
fighting on the side of Chaos agains
forces of Law would be very interes
particularly as the Law/Chaos divide
right across the conventional moral polar¬
isation of Good/Evil. There are all sorts of
moral dilemmas such a struggle entails.
Try and imagine a Lawful Good paladin
making common cause with a Lawful Evil
mindflayer on the grounds that both are
on the side of the Law, and you see the
complications that arise. Yet if the final
battle is between the forces of Law and
structure, and those of Chaos and free¬
dom, that is the way the chips may lie.

J& Roger Musson

Previous Stirge Cornerthemes are detail¬
ed below. To obtain back issues see p48.

#1 & 3: Introduction to rpgs; #4 & 5: Beginning as a
DM*; #6 & 7: Staying alive; #5: Treasure*; #9:
Monsters*; #10: Treasure & monsters*; #11: Time &
motion*; #12: Role-playing; #15: Mapping*; #16:
Scale; miniature figures; # 17: DM-ing equipment*;
#13 & 19: Alignments . ma)n , K for DMs ,

Please note that #2, 13 & 14 are out of print.

IMAGINE magazine* November 1 984

CORNER

Press Cuttings

SOAPBOX

A new platform for the hobby to speak its mind
This month's contributor —

Graham Staplehurst

editor of The Wind's Sixth Quarter

Adventure gaming and roleplaying — two
names for the same thing, right? Wrong!

The stress in adventure gaming is on gaming ,
something which naturally involves games¬
manship. Roleplaying is an artform, and has
all the qualities of a game with none of the less
desirable aspects.

Let’s think about art for a moment. There are
many, many artforms, which can be divided
up in many ways. I’d like to expose a division
among artists and in art that mirrors the state
of the rolegaming hobby. ‘Original’ art
doesn’t involve being better, just different or
innovative. It means coming up with some¬
thing new that people can appreciate because
of its beauty or form. The artists put their
best into it and do the job as best they can, but
only expect to be judged on the finished
product in its own right. A composer writing
a piece of music, a painter filling out a canvas
— these are artists working on something
original, not attempting to reach pre-set
standards, but trying to satisfy themselves
and to pass on that satisfaction.

On the other side of the coin is ‘competitive’
art. Artists who interpret, or copy, or recite
‘original’ art in a competitive way; trying to
emulate others, be better than others. Ice
dancing, piano competitions, photographic
exhibitions. All are limited by their theme,
their dependence upon others’ work. They
strive to perfect the execution of their work —
adding to the original art, maybe, but unable
to go beyond it.

For art is continually expanding, by going
beyond the current boundaries. Even in
established fields, such as classical music,
painting, sculpture and drama, originality is
encouraged and highly praised. The more art
there is, the better we can appreciate it, and
even more so if it is ‘original’ art. Gymnasts
who work so hard for maximum marks are
bound by the limitations of their discipline;
the size of the mat, the equipment allowed,
the strength and agility of their bodies. And
when they achieve the maximum, what then?
‘Competitive’ art is ultimately stale and
unoriginal. The conception of the initial work
is the crucial part, and if the freedom
‘original’ art needs is denied or restricted,
then the end product will be less appreciated.

To return then to our hobby; role-playing,
adventure gaming, or call it what you will.
Currently, most sytems and game-aids
commercially promote adventure gaming,
and promote it as ‘competitive’ gaming.
Players compete with each other to attain
levels of skill and wealth, to accomplish laid
down objectives. Execution of the game must
be perfected within the allowed framework;
52

the rules must be learned to help you win. But
although knowing how to use the rules to help
improve your precision and style, you are
limited to repetitions. An adventure from a
module is merely a recital. Adventure gaming
takes you only this far, and however well you
do it, it is not satisfying as art. You may be
able to think up variations, interpretations,
characterisations — but these are no more
valuable than a cover version of the original
piece, and sometimes as dire as a painting-by¬
numbers kit.

Shouldn’t we all aspire to something better?
To get beyond the simple execution a game,
and into the development of our own
‘original’ artforms? Roleplaying goes far
beyond the established limits of games, and
so should drop the concepts of gamesmanship
winning. ‘Art for art’s sake’ as the saying
goes; let’s make roleplaying an artform by
encouraging and stimulating original thought.
Over the last few years, game companies have
concentrated on providing rules systems
from authentic historical, fictional or film
sources — unoriginal by definition in artistic
terms. Too much attention and emphasis is
placed on the games system in all its sections,
from combat to magic to technology, without
inspiring equally high levels of quality in
personal scenario and campaign design — or,
most of all, roleplaying. Are we to see
roleplaying as a creative process, or as mere
mimicry; the acting out of a prepared script?
How much creativity are GMs encouraged to
give their players? How much participation
in the whole game? All too little, I feel. The
professional modules are all full of objective
to be gained, enemies to be slain, evil to be
overcome. Not content with restricting play¬
ers (and GMs) through ad hoc systems of
rules, the game companies persist in inflicting
straight-jacketed, manipulative and uni¬
directional adventures that remunerate un¬
realistic systems and reduce what can be an
engrossing and highly rewarding pastime to a
simple game of tactics, legalised cheating and
dice rolling.

Perhaps few people care about art in this day
and age. Games companies exist to make
profits and provide a living for their employ¬
ees, not to broaden the culture of their
audience. But here is the potential for an
artform that many can enjoy; one doesn’t
need the skill it takes to play an instrument,
the command of English of the poet, the eye
and dexterity of a painter, or the poise and
agility of a dancer. What is needed is a system
to turn the soil of a thousand imaginations
more deeply than ever before, and to plant the
seeds of positive, creative role-playing — and
the art will flourish and propogate itself.

G Staplehurst

After the scarcity of zines over the past few
months, the FRP market has seen a large
explosion of new magazines. The summer was
obviously a busy time for a lot of people! At the
same time, we can see how the old guard fared
in the two major awards of the autumn; since
last month both the Games Day Best Fanzine
Awards and Zine Poll results have been
revealed. Let's look at the former first:

1984 GAMES DAY AWARDS
Best Fanzine Category

1. DragonLords

2. Miser's Hoard

3. Tempestuous Orifice

(4. SEWARS; 5. Acolyte; 6. Demons Drawl)

So DRAGONLORDS wins for the third time in
three years, and for the last time it will qualify.
MISERS HOARD deserved second place, I
feel, as one of the longest-running zines
around at the moment. TEMPESTUOUS
ORIFICE must be a contender for first place
next year, as the quality goes up and up. The
latest issue, #6, is superbly produced, with
crisp printing and art. The contents are up to
scratch as well, with discussions of character¬
istics in frp games, a large T&T solo set in
Egypt and plenty more.

SEWARS has been running for a number of
years without making much impression on the
awards, but Chris' hard work at publicising the
magazine is obviously paying off. #20 carries
the traditional mix of AD&D game monsters,
scenarios, etc, while SEWARS 20.5 is a small
humorous parody of the usual approach.

THE ACOLYTE just scraped into the awards,
as most people seemed unsure whether or not
it was an frp zine. I say 'was' as the 60th and
final issue is finally here. Pete has decided to
fold the zine due to lack of money and also a
lack of desire to stay a part of the hobby feuds
which have grown up. Pete has had a
reputation as a feuder and seemed to enjoy it;
now, recent developments have proved too
much for him and he has decided to drop out of
the hobby and fanzine production. The Acolyte
will be greatly missed.

The full story of the Acolyte fold can be found
in Trev Mendham's excellent gossip and news-
zine SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL, which covers
the games hobby and industry. Can you afford
to be without it? Performing a similar job of
rumour and gossip spreading for the SF world
is Dave Langford's ANSIBLE, issue 39 being
the latest. Again, it is invaluable if you want to
get behind-the-scenes news and gossip.

There are apparently some people out there
actually reading this section of IMAGINE
magazine, who have taken the advice given
and started their own fanzines. FIERY CROSS
is the first of these new zines, and presents a
very pleasing first issue. FC covers the AD&D
and T&T games, plus reviews and some chat.
One to look out for. BLOOD, GUTS AND
BEER, apart from having a charming name, is
run by a bunch of RQ fanatics, and should
appeal to anyone who is eqally devoted to the
game. SPAWN OF CHAOS, on the other
hand, offers a rather poorly put together first
issue. Standard AD&D material, with some
awful cartoons. Another of the new arrivals,
SUPERHERO UK does lack a certain some¬
thing in appearance (resembling SEWARS),
but presents a lot of good content. The
magazine aims at providing a forum for
discussion, ideas and information for super¬
hero gamers in the UK. It should fulfil that aim
admirably, being run as it is by Simon Burley,
co-author of the Golden Heroes rpg, and the
special multi-system super-hero adventure

IMAGINE magazine, November 1984

appearing in this magazine next month.
SUPERHERO #1 carries a large multi-system
scenario and articles outlining just how to set
up a Superhero campaign.

DAGON isn't new, as #1 appeared a while
ago, and lost a fair amount of money. #2 has
now appeared and offers a wide range of
material for Cali of Cthulhu (Dagon being the
title of H P Lovecraft's first published story).
The zine is definitely worth getting if you play
CoC. Mind you, they are going to carry on
losing money if they insist on using card covers
which cost 22p each to produce! That is not the
most sensible method of producing a zine.
VACUOUS GRIMOIRE #2 has also appeared.
It is longer, better produced and an improve¬
ment on #1. The magazine still lacks any
strong content, being a mixture of poor D&D
game and computer articles. Last, but by no
means least, of the frp zines is RUNESTONE
#4, an issue which has been delayed by printer
problems. In fact. Bill did think issue 5 might
appear first! This issue has articles on SF
background, Norsequest, plus D&D, and is a
well-balanced mix of FRP/chat and a few
postal games.

The Zine Poll looms larger than the Games
Day Awards in postal gamers' minds. The most
controversial aspect of the poll this year was
the new use of average votes for each zine
rather than the hideously complex preferment
method used last year. This method produced
some surprises in both the upper and lower
regions of the results.

The winner of the poll was Alan Parr's
HOPSCOTCH, a deserved win for a zine
which has always tried to promote innovation
in postal gaming. Hopscotch is the zine to try if
you don't want to play the usual run-of-the-
mill postal games. Second was NMR! which
continues to offer efficient postal games, along
with pub guides, chat and comments; as the
latest issue shows, it generally has something
for everybody. MAD POLICY, run by Richard

Walkerdine, who organised the Poll, came
third; and #99 carries the full results listing an
analysis for those of you who are interested in
seeing the complete results. It is interesting to
note that the Acolyte only reached 7th place,
while several European zines in fact came
higher. Perhaps a reflection on Pete's mood

IMAGINE magazine* November 1984

recently and the impending fold, rather than a
sudden improvement in the European zines.

One place above the Acolyte was CUT &
THRUST, largely due to its great coverage of
the En Garde game TAKE THAT YOU FIEND
having now dropped the International from its
name, gained 10th place in the poll. The latest
issue continues the staunch defence of T&T
with an interview with Ken St Andre, as well as
offering the usual games. PSYCHOPATH got
to 12th place in the poll, which must have been
a pleasing resultfor Mike Dean, although #15,
sees him announce that he is passing over the
zine to Wallace Nicoll and Doug Rowling. They
will, no doubt, continue with the excellent mix
of postal gaming, chat, FRP, SF and comics
whcih Mike has built up. 13th place in the poll
went to Steve Norledge's RAPSCALLION.
The latest issue has plenty of chat about
everything from cricket to racism, plus Cthulhu
and a Manorcon review, not to mention the
postal games.

GREATEST HITS, the usual winner of the
poll, managed only 22nd place this year — a
long drop for a zine as good as GH. GH 118 is a
rather reduced, games only issue, but Pete
promises an extra-large, computer-produced
119. TALES FROM TANELORN was 25th,
though it has now folded after #8. The reason
isn't that Matt is leaving the hobby, however,
simply that he has started a new mimeoed zine
in its place; SWANSEA WITH ME promisesto
be very similar toTufty in content. Meanwhile,
just to confuse everyone, Alex Zbyslaw (he of
unpronounceable Polish name!) has started a
newzine — also called SWANSEA WITH ME!
This promises to be a pure chat zine. 20
YEARS ON came 29th. This is an invaluable
directory to all the postal gaming zines
available and most of the FRP ones. Every
fanzine reader should have one; MASTERS
OF THE PRIME came 36th, offering a good
game of En Gardel, Judge Dredd and Baseball
Wars for all that. MOUSE POLICE didn't make
it into the Poll, but is steadily building up in
size, and content, based around En Garde!.
LANKMAR STAR DAILY is based around the
running of a vast new FRP campaign called
2112, and #9 comes complete with an A5
booklet of rules. It looks like a very well thought
out amateur campaign. HACKING TIMES is a
Diplomacy zine produced by Greenwich Young

Liberals and approved of by David Steel,
believe it or not. No, I didn't either....

SCAN #29 is a small comics zine/amateur
comic and has some amusing pieces on Dos
and Donts for would-be D&D adventurers, as
well as ads for adventurers' aid from BUPA!
Lastly (phew!), the usual odd item in the form
of GAMERS, a series of cartoon strips from
Tri-Tac. It is a vey funny look at gamers and the
things they get up to, but not really worth the
£1.50 that Games Workshop seem to be
asking for it. J& Zines reviewed by Mike Lewis

Tempestuous
Orifice 4!

Featuring a Cthulhu Scenario
by Imagine’s Simon Redgrave

TO 4,5,6 available 60 P

TO 4+5+6 only £1.50

PATRICK FAMA, 15 York Close,
l Morden, SURREY SM4 5HW >

ACOLYTE, Pete Tamlyn, 2 Poplar Road, The Coppice,
Aylesbury HP22 5BN (45p); ANSIBLE, Dave Langford, 94
London Road, Reading, Berks RG1 5AU (6 for £2); BLOOD,
GUTS & BEER, Sue Gardner, 1 Elm Drive, Hove, Sussex BN3
7JS (65p); CRASIMOFF'S WORLD NEWSLETTER, KJC
Games, 5 Vicarage Avenue, Clevelys, Blackpool, Lancs FY5
2BD (50p); CUT & THRUST, Derek Wilson, 321 Headley Road
East, Woodley, Reading, Berks RG5 4SE (25p); DAGON, Carl
Ford. 11 Warwick Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TW2 6SW
(55p); DEMON'S DRAWL, Jeremy Nuttall, 49 Longdown Rd,
Congleton, Cheshire; FIERY CROSS, Tom Stacey, The Mill
House, Rays Hill, Hawridge, Nr Chesham, Bucks HP5 2UJ
(55p); GAMERS, available from Games Workshop, 27-9
Sunbeam Rd, London NW10 6JP (£1.50); GREATEST HITS,
Pete Birks, 65 Turney Road, London SE21 7JB; HACKING
TIMES, Dylan Harris, Greenwich Young Liberals, 76 Haddo
House, Haddo St, Greenwich SE10; HOPSCOTCH, Alan Parr,
6 Longfield Gardens, Tring, Herts (40p), LANKMAR STAR
DAILY, Robert Nott, 158 Pendeen Park, Helston, Cornwall;
MAD POLICY, Richard Walkerdine, 144 Stoughton Road,
Guildford, Surrey GU2 6PG (40p); MASTERS OF THE
PRIME, Bryan Betts, 14 Pickwick Grove, Mosely, Birmingham
B13 9LN (40p); MOUSE POLICE, Rob Wilson, 6 Shorefields,
Benfleet, Essex SS7 5BQ (20p); PSYCHOPATH. Wallace
Nicoll, 228 Kinell Ave, Cardonald, Glasgow G52 3RU (60p);
RAPSCALLION, Steve Norledge, 75 Hawkhurst Way, West
Wickham, Kent BR4 9PE (40p); RUNESTONE. Bill Lucas, c/o
John Astor House, Foley Street, London W1 (50p); SCAN.
John Freman, 126a Greaves Road, Lancaster LAI 4UW (30p +
p&p); SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL, Trevor Mendham, 53
Towncourt Crescent, Petts Wood, Kent BR5 1PH (5 for £1);
SEWARS, Chris Baylis, 12 The Fryth, Basildon, Essex (60p);
SHADOWFIRE, Richard Lee, 226 Graham Rd, Sheffield S10
3GS; SPAWN OF CHAOS, Mark Pitman, 42 Heath Way,
Blofield Corner, Norwich, Norfolk NR13 4RS (50p), SUPER¬
HERO UK, Simon Burley, 20 Honeswode Close, Handsworth,
Birmingham 20, SWANSEA WITH ME, Matt Williams, 24
Moor St, Coventry CV6 6EQ (40p); SWANSEA WITH ME, Alex
Zbyslaw, 197 Herbert Ave, Poole, Dorset BH12 4HR; TAKE
THAT YOU FIEND. Kevin Warne, 48 Boscombe Avenue,
Hornchurch, Essex RM11 1JG (35p); TEMPESTUOUS ORI¬
FICE, Patrick Fama, 15 York Close, Morden, Surrey SM4 5HW
(60p); 20 YEARS ON, Mark Billeness, 20 Winifred Road,
Coulsdon, Surrey CR3 3JA (40p); VACUOUS GRIMOIRE,
Richard Roberts, 52 Whalesmead Road, Bishopstoke, East¬
leigh, Hants S05 6HL(50p).

One part of the Readers Revenge Poll that
is to be conducted in the next issue of
IMAGINE ™ magazine will concern the
amateur press. Just how many of our
readers do subscribe to any of the
publications listed above? What do they
think of them, and what value do they
place on regular coverage of Hobby
opinion? Don't forget to add your opinion
— and shape IMAGINE magazine'sfuture.

There's nothing like a good controversy to
stir up correspondence. A short while ago
(issue 17) I dipped a cautious elbow into
the water — on the topic of experience
points — to see how far the ripples
spread, and great was the resulting wave.
Thanks to all who wrote, and particularly
to Mark Sands who did a very consider¬
able piece of research.

It's quite clear from your letters that
there are at least two interpretations of
this particular issue, but despite Mark's
research it still isn't entirely clear what
the rules want us to do. There's a fair case
to be made against my interpretation,
though. Incidentally, I should have made
it clear, and didn't, that I was talking
about the ADVANCED DUNGEONS &
DRAGONS® game system, not the Basic
game. As it happens, the Basic rules are
quite clear on the subject. On page 12 of
the DM's book, it's quite clear that a PC
gets 1 xp for each gp without spending the
gold, and since the Basic and Advanced
games, though different, aren't all that
different, the same must be true in
Advanced.

At least this isthe way Markargues, as
well as others, and they stand a good
chance of being right (ie, doing what Gary
intended). But it's not conclusive. The
games, though based on the same gen¬
eral principles, differ quite a lot in detail.
A glance at the magic-user spells makes
the point.

Of course, in the end what counts is
enjoying the game, not niggling aboutthe
rules. I suspect my group of friends will
stick to our interpretation and other
groups will do likewise. If you get into a
game with a new DM, however, it's
probably a good idea to establish at the
start what method is going to be used.

One other remark I made in the same
article has apparently caused someraised
eyebrows. I said that, since our version of
the xp/gp business was the stingier of
the two, it's perhaps not surprising that
the highest level character develop in our
group is only 10th (actually, things have
progressed since then, and there is now a
12th level MU, newly promoted and
slightly dazzled by the addition to her spell
repertoire). What I should have made
clear is that we all run 'stables' of
characters and very rarely run the same
character on two successive adventures.

Each player in the group has at least a
dozen characters in his stable, and some
have considerably more (Dave Tant has
one for each letter of the alphabet, though

the probability of Theolonius — predict¬
ably a Monk — adventuring again is pretty
small, afterthedirty trick he played on his
mates last time). Sometimes we run high-
level adventures, sometimes low-level,
and sometimes somewhere in the middle;
so we all have characters of various
classes and of various experience levels.

My own stable includes Arachne (the
12th level MU); Eccles (actually a female
after one of Allan Oven's adventures); the
"oh, I wish I could be a Bard" fighter
Neddie; Denis and Bessie (both illusion¬
ists and both grossly overweight); the
irritating Lord Chevasse; and, at the
bottom of the ladder, the beautiful fighter
Jeanne (the only one with psionic abilit¬
ies) and Agnes, who, when she isn't
adventuring is Min's housekeeper.

Until recently, Bill Howard's stable
appeared to consist entirely of characters
named Ramises (sic); now he has started
to run some new characters whose
names are homophones of other people's
characters. Chaotic Good, our Bill. Allan
Ovens calls many of his characters after
RAF bases, for some curious reason,
while Chris Rick's characters' names are
anagrams of our names (he has a fighter
called Nod Bullrunt who, by his behav¬
iour, is somewhat sex-mad.... Chris has,
of course, a very vivid imagination). Dave
Rumble's characters are mostly girls
(make of that what you will). Only Dave
Tant and Patrick Thompson select names
to suit their view of the character, rather
than by some system.

I'm presuming here that most, if not all,
players develop 'stables' along these
lines; I haven't come across as group yet
who play the same characters each time.

and if I do I'll be interested to know what
happens to the player whose character
meets an untimely and fatal end. If the
rest of the group have characters of 8th-
10th levels, say, it's going to be a long
haul getting a new character up to that
level. The chances are that a new
character would never catch up.

Before closing, let me briefly switch to
another issue, and askyouyouropinions.
This concerns the paladin, the well-
known pain-in-the-neck character. Now
the paladin must be Lawful and Good and
must behave very much that way. A
paladin can associate with a character of
a distinctly different alignment for the
sake of a mission, but the circumstances
are quite restrictive. The question is what
obligation, if any, is there on the paladin
to try to maintain reasonably lawful/good-
type behaviour in fellow adventurers?
What if a paladin catches a thief stealing
from one of the party — is the paladin
bound to give the game away? What
should a paladin do about a fellow-
adventurer whose personal habits (which
may be beyond a character's control, say
because of a cursed item) are distasteful
to the paladin, even though alignment
may be OK and the character puts up a
brave fight when necessary?

Of all the character classes, the paladin
seemstobe the one which causesthe DM
most problems. Though maybe I'm forget¬
ting the vastly-popular barbarian...

Don Turnbull

Some of the correspondence Don refers
to about the xp/gp question can be found
in the Letters section , page 44.

'5 Kenku leap out....

'15 hits — 70 points of
damage'

f
\ *

....they look at you
quizzically....

....then attack.' (rolls)

'Of course those were
genuine rolls!'

don't subscribe to the
ignore-the-die-roll theory"

From the Picture Book Guide To Being A Good DM by Don Turnbull (Ladybird £89.95).

IMAGINE magazine, N ox-ember 1984

AM EPIC IN TWELVE CHUNKS

chunk 1 u Fourth: the day op weasels discretion?.

—»— -—~~ T *~ - < -

GRYN THE BIG AND WEASEL THE FAIRLY CLEVER., OM AWAKENING AFTER THE-
BamGL^TT, ARE PURSUED BY SOMETHING VERY LARGE, SCALY AklD FIERCE:,
GOITE UNUkE THE DIMINUTIVE CREATURES OF THE SAN\£ SPECIES VJW\CW UVE
AMONG THE VILLAGERS. THEY SEEK REFUGE INJ A NAVSTERVOUS CASTLE,,. BuT
WHILE HE CANNOT OPEN* THE DOORS, WEASEL SUDDENLY VshSAES VAe y\Ab MOT
A SkED FOR A H AND_ _ ____ —

FUELING TOO cautious To explore their.
SANCTUARY, THE LADS REST 6Y THE DOOR
For. hale an Hour...

IMAGINE magazine, N o\>cmber 1954

THEY RJUnJ iNTd A 5N\AU. g£dup or

villagers, omH or Whom vs...

r M«s hokxw'. hello'. t pear

WE PRAUK KAORE THAN OUR

TILL AN D...VM HAT'S Wftor*6:

/4/4SV1 / ON THE COAST}
1-7HE BE ACM - WE WERE
VtR.Y' ASHAMED OP ouft.
D&uNkEsJ StAte !

/MONSENgr- //V FACT A
IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESS
TWAT WE'RE WAV'N/O
ANOTHER BANChJET ,
TOMOMTi

£R- SEE You LATER, morion
f - MY FRlQs/D ISN'T TeEUI^
NEU-, SO t'LL TAKE him FOR
w A LX. VsorV-T SE LON&J

BEOAOSC TU\S FvAcE is A MATE op MYSTERY
A(^d SCLltCrs. | wmt To LEARN "WE SECRETS
Ar^O UNRAVEL THe VKiTERX -Arvlt> W£ v*OfVT
FAR g.-Y GoIMCp RounjD AtKiMC. O&VIIOOS

^oevnoNS a root thisicjs* theYrc trti^ -n>
CONOCAL - But it's vcry ctD that tmey

stEl *' To WANT V*i HetiC"...

IF TWERC ARE: tWERMAvfcS IN
Cov/e, TURT COULD HAVjE (MYEN
TUC iWoRp...*UT THEY toULO N
k HAniE «LETR|£VE\> it -XRog&rt... < >

^ >83!- at - - **Vk

RJEALLX UVCE To SEE - OME.. OR ’

Pio I HEAR that A n*N Looks uP>n
a mermaid, he: falls hopelessly iaI
LoKE WITH her. And EYtNTVJALLY
GotS Co kaPUETWLY BARMY?

wim

t/ll/// lifll

\ WonDCr. WHERE- MouSUA f(ASo«xSHt'
UkK5 ME, WEASm. IP XT HJASnV Toft HER., Vo I
fxDfi. M0JIM6 OPF. HEfc MD TUAt SWoiVP, TUAt

WILL OORYN Go COMPLETELY BARMY, AND IF so,
WILL Anyone ACTUALLY NOT\CE? NEXT TIME,
WEASEL HAS «\S CloAW STOLEN), AND AN
EXPLORATION RESULTS IN AN AWESONNe T*scoJeKY....~

IMAGINE rn^odnt, Novem6er 1334

PLV, »CBuFf ALo

72 BIG PAGE! FEATURING

THE COMPENDIUM COMPETITION
AND MORE

THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDE
TO ASSEMBLING MODELS

ILLUSTRATION OF THE CITADEL
RANGE OF MINIATURE FIGURES

THE PAINT BRUSH AS AN
OFFENSIVE WEAPON

PAINTING CITADEL MODELS

THE SHRINE OF RIGG

A SPECIAL WARHAMMER
SCENARIO

ELDRITCH EPISTLES

LETTERS FROM THE CITADEL
MAILBAG

CITADEL MINIATURES, CHEWTON ST., HILLTOP, EASTWOOD, NOTTS. TEL: (0773) 769522.

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